Hospital Hijinks
by displacedtexan
Summary: Naoki starts medical school and there is confusion about his relationship with Kotoko. Part of Kotoko Volant universe, after Honeymoon in a Crowded Room. FOLLOWUP STORY: Baby Business.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Itazura na Kiss does not belong to me.**

 **A/N2: Since this timeline advanced the romantic story of the lead characters, I slid time for the nursing students as well. I hope this action doesn't offend too many purists.**

* * *

"He's so cool!" sighed Tomoko.

"More like cold," muttered Keita, wishing that the members of his study group would act like serious nursing students instead of idol fans.

"Oh hush, Keita," scolded Motoki. "Don't rain on our parade just because you're the only one who's not interested in dreamy-looking people with a Y chromosome!"

"You know, there's no indication that he's gay," he pointed out. "So don't you think that your effort is wasted?"

"Nothing is wasted as long as there is love!" she proclaimed, throwing a dramatic arm wide. "And even if he doesn't swing that way, he is still _extremely_ easy on the eyes."

"Yep, he can park his boots under my bed any time," asserted Tomoko.

"Well, I'm most interested in the fact that he will be making scads of money once he's a physician," remarked Marina. "You know, they approved his admittance into medical school before he actually took the transfer test!"

"I heard that he has an IQ of 200! Any school would be happy to have him."

"In that case, why is he here at Tonan?" asked Keita in a reasonable tone. "Wouldn't you think that he would have attended a more rarified institution such as Todai?"

"Who cares, as long as he's here now?" sighed Motoki.

Keita repeatedly banged the back of his head softly against the wall as Irie Naoki's voice filtered out of the door. "Furthermore, the iris, contained in the vascular tunic of the eyeball's anterior segment, itself consists of internal layers…"

* * *

"Wow! I never realized the medical department was so far from the central campus!" Kotoko complained out loud as she finally ascended the handful of steps in front of the entrance. _Although it does make sense to have it attached to the hospital,_ she thought, eyeing the multistory facility to her right. _Oh well,_ she shrugged, _at least I had the good sense to wear flats today and carry my heels._ The aforementioned dressy shoes currently resided in the roomy leather satchel suspended from her shoulder.

As she walked the halls, searching for the correct room number, she felt distinctly over-dressed. After her errand she was meeting Dylan for a business luncheon with the owner of Kimura Collectibles, a company which produced high quality artistic figure sculptures. Apparently the owner's son was a great fan of the Racquet Warrior video games and had persuaded his father to contract with Pandai. That enamored young man was going to be attending the luncheon today, as a stipulation in the contract was that he meet the actual Kotorin. _Great!_ She heaved a sigh at the thought then was immediately distracted by her fashionista's eye. It was a shame that the medical uniforms were so pastel and…bland. The halls of this serious building were quiet and stodgy enough. Surely the students could at least be allowed to show some personality by wearing clothing of varying colors and designs. _Hmph!_ she thought, _if I had my way this place would look much brighter._

According to the photo of Naoki's schedule on her phone (she didn't dare trust her memory when going into an unknown location) she thought she must be drawing near. Based on the room numbering system, he ought to be in… _that one!_ She stopped in mid-stride, cocking her head at the sight before her. Outside that room's door, were three females, one rather tall, huddled around as if fascinated by something—or someone—inside. Leaning on the hallway wall opposite was a slender male, looking anything but excited. Ignoring him, Kotoko advanced on the group and tapped on the shoulder of the nearest girl.

"What's so interesting in there?" she asked.

The trio turned around as if choreographed. "Shh!" said the tall one. Kotoko squinted her eyes. Those features looked…

"We're watching Irie-san's first oral presentation to the class," said one of the other girls, her features attractive but slightly predatory. Kotoko was immediately reminded of Matsumoto-san.

"He's doing so well, considering that he transferred into the department two years behind the others." The last one sighed after she commented in a soft-spoken voice.

"Irie?" Kotoko raised herself on tiptoes, trying to look around them. "I'd like to see it too."

Lightning sparked from the trio's eyes as they rounded again on her. "I just bet you would! Coming in here in your prissy little fashionable outfit!"

 _Prissy?!_ Kotoko looked down at her navy bolero jacket over cream blouse and slightly flared green ombre skirt.

"Irie-san is off-limits!"

"R-really?" Kotoko stared at them wide-eyed.

"He is the property of the medical department! Don't come over here wagging your little behind to catch his attention."

"Yes! He will be a most exemplary doctor, and deserves to have a wife who understands his challenging profession and can support him in the field!"

"Not a tiny little doll who's probably just here to get her M.R.S. degree!"

"M.R.S…?" By now Kotoko had been backed the width of the hall, and she bumped into something a little bit softer than the wall. "Oh! Excuse me!" She moved to the side and bowed quickly to the young man, then turned to the others. "You must be mistaken. I'm not familiar with that degree. I'm taking courses in fashion—"

One of them snorted. " ** _That_** I can believe!"

 _My!_ Kotoko thought. _Are these the type of people who are planning to be loving caretakers of sick persons? I'd better keep taking my vitamins to stay out of their hands!_ "So, this…Irie," she began, "he is very popular in this building?"

The tallest girl clasped her hands together and leaned her head to the side against them. Kotoko had a sudden flashback of Mrs. Irie in that same pose. "Yes! He is the husband that all the nursing students dream of!" She broke off and glared at Kotoko. "Remember—WE have first crack at him."

"No!" Kotoko shook her head. "I promise—I'm not competing with you." She then stepped forward and boldly patted the other's tight curls. "You have some split ends forming here." She dug in her bag and pulled out a small envelope and handed it to her. "This is a great hair treatment that will keep them under control between trims."

The other stared at the packet then at Kotoko and lowered her head when Kotoko beckoned.

"You're a man dressed as a woman, aren't you?" Kotoko whispered. Motoki's eyes fired and she opened her mouth to begin her practiced explanation but before she could get a word out, Kotoko pressed a business card onto her. "Call me for a free consultation! I think I can find you a makeup that won't irritate your beard area so much. There's a little rash forming here." Her fingertips fluttered along the jawline. She winked and grinned. "My name's Kotoko!"

"Why…why thank you!" she managed. "It's very nice of you. I'm Kikyou Motoki, and these are Shinagawa Marina and Ogura Tomoko, and this great lump—or hunk—of a man is Kamogari Keita!"

The silent man nodded at Kotoko then straightened from his reclining pose. "Are you idiotic females—and yes, Motoki, I include you—through gawking at the poor guy yet?"

"Oh! His speech!" The girls turned quickly back towards the room, but to their disappointment the students were rising and pushing their chairs in. "Darn, we missed it!"

 _I didn't,_ Kotoko thought. _I heard it four times last night. I don't know why he was nervous though; he had it memorized from the get-go. Maybe because this course of study is new and different…_ "Ack!"

She found herself squashed against the wall as the three girls positioned themselves for a perfect view of the exiting medical students. Her nose drew an invisible line across the back of Marina's scrubs as Keita dragged her to the side out of the stack of bodies.

"Thanks," she muttered as she smoothed her bangs down.

The students emerged in clumps of twos and threes. Naoki's eyes glided idly across the line-up then reversed direction as he focused on his wife. "Kotoko?" he asked.

"Hello, Naoki!" She stepped forward. "Okaasan asked me to deliver a bento after you called saying you had a late afternoon lab."

"It _was_ Mom who prepared the meal, right?" he asked as he placed a hand on her elbow and led her down the hall toward the entrance.

She swatted him with her free hand. "Of course, silly!"

"I still have a bad taste in my mouth from your last culinary attempt! Ouch!" He jumped back as she slapped his arm again then continued to walk beside her. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"I have a late lunch date with Dylan-san and a potential client." She sighed as she glanced at her Mickey Mouse watch, a souvenir from their honeymoon. "I have to hurry now." Her eyes twinkled up at him. "Sorry I can't give you a good-bye kiss. It would mess the makeup."

Naoki snorted. "As if I'd do that in public anyway!" He tapped her on the head with the folder holding his presentation notes, none of which he had referred to in the previous class. "Take care. I'll see you later."

The trio of girls observed the encounter with greedy eyes. Keita laughed at their expressions. "Not in competition with you, eh? It looks like she swept the event!"

"Wait! Who is she?" Motoki raised the business card nearer her face. "'Reinvent Yourself – Training in Charm, Conversation, Countenance by Irie Kotoko.' **_Irie?!_** "

"Must be his sister." Marina stood, one hand holding the elbow of the opposite arm, forefinger of the other hand tapping her lips. "No visible signs of great affection, teasing, little body contact…"

"Talked about 'Okaasan'…" mused Tomoko.

"Plus she has a lunch date with another man," added Keita.

The girls turned to him in unison. " ** _Now_** you're interested?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Kotoko looked up from her laptop. "How was the lab?"

Naoki laid his briefcase against the wall before answering. "It was long, but illuminating and well worth the time. I'm glad to be home though," he said before covering a yawn with the back of his hand.

"Well, the bath water should still be warm," she said as she began to unbutton his shirt. "Take a quick shower and relax for awhile."

"Sounds like a plan." He leaned down and gave her a quick but thorough kiss.

Her eyes opened wide. "What was that for?"

"That's the goodbye kiss that I couldn't give you at school today," he informed her.

"Silly!" she laughed. "Right now you should call it a hello kiss."

"Nah," he said, rubbing her head. "I'll give you _that_ _one_ when I return." He sauntered out of the bedroom, whistling.

"Hmmm." Kotoko looked down at her plaid pajamas. "Maybe I'd better get that slinky nightgown out of the drawer."

* * *

"I ran into your fan club today," Kotoko commented.

Naoki's hand, which had been playing with her hair, stilled. "What?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice that group of nursing students outside your classroom?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure they had a valid reason to be there."

Kotoko burst out in laughter. "And you say I'm obstil…ovil… obst…don't notice things! I'll have you know that I was warned away from you. Most sternly."

"You're kidding." He looked at her head shake. "No. You _are_ joking, right?" He laid his forearm over his eyes. "It's hard enough transferring into a group of people that have been studying together for two years, and now I've got to stand out even _more_?!"

"Hey," Kotoko snuggled up to him. "It's nothing new for you, just a little more intense."

"Huh?"

"Well, you've had a stalker all the back to high school. Me!" She pointed to herself and grinned. "Now it's just a few more people…"

"Yes, but I got rid of _that_ stalker by marrying her," he pointed out. "I'm not planning on committing polygamy to make _them_ go away." He halted, eyes focused on the ceiling. "Wait a minute, one of them was a man. He's not…?"

Kotoko snorted. "Actually two of them are, and one of them is! But I'm going to see if I can make friends with them."

"Not that I doubt you, Kotoko," he began, "but how are you planning to do that?"

"I gave my business card to one. I think she'll call me, even if only out of curiosity, once she gets over the shock of my married name." She rolled away and gave him a shove. "And how come they don't know that you're married anyway?"

"Beats me. I don't know why it's not common knowledge, considering that I'm married to one of the most well-known and notorious women on campus."

"Notor—! Is that good?" she asked, index finger touching her bottom lip.

He pulled her hand away and gave her a quick kiss. "No, it's great! Great for me, that is! But," he returned to her earlier question, "Tonan has a large campus and the medical students don't mingle all that much with students from other disciplines. Probably the intensity of the courses."

"Well, maybe they'll be more aware of me from now on. Because, seriously, some of them could use my help! Have you looked at your fellow students? They're pretty ragged."

"For someone who didn't know what she wanted to do when she entered college, you have certainly come a long way."

"That's right," she nodded vigorously. "It's too bad I didn't know all this back in high school. Think of all the people I could have helped."

"Your grades could have used some help," he muttered.

"What was that? Anyway, your friend Watanabe-kun could have used a makeover. Hmmm. I would have gotten rid of the dorky glasses and thinned his hair out…"

He rolled over on top of her. "And then you might have ended up married to a future lawyer instead of doctor!"

"Huh?" She blinked up at him.

"He—uh—sort of had a thing for you back then," he said, his voice muffled as he kissed her neck.

"Wha-a-at!" She pushed him up and away. "I never knew…"

"Yeah." His face reddened slightly. "He told me as much but I didn't mention it to you for some reason."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Does that mean even back then you liked me?"

He shrugged. "Maybe? I wouldn't have recognized my feelings, and I'm still clumsy with them at times. But," he grinned widely, "Mom would never have let him set foot in this house. She placed all sorts of 'No Trespassing' signs around you."

"Is that why she was always following me with a camera?"

* * *

The next morning the two jostled for position in front of the mirror in their bedroom. As Naoki craned his neck to make sure static was not making his hair stand up too much, his eyes fell on a large envelope with a medical seal on the desk.

"Kotoko, what's this?" he asked, waving it.

Eyes wide with damp mascara, she looked over. "Oh, those are the medical results from Otosan and Otosan-Irie. Okaasan wanted you to look over those and—how did she put it?—'translate it into something that us lowly mortals can understand'."

"Hmph! She'd have done better to get their doctor in a chokehold and make him do it. Well," he placed it in his briefcase, "I'll look it over today and if I have any questions, I have plenty of people to ask." He bent and kissed her cheek. "Did you want to meet for lunch? Maybe reinforce the fact that I'm off the market?"

"No," she waved her lip liner at him absently and he backed away. "I'm meeting Satomi and Jinko in the cafeteria. We don't see much of each other now that we're all going in different directions with our courses. I'm taking them their souvenirs from California as well."

"Give my regards to Kinnosuke," he offered facetiously.

* * *

"Ooh, this is so cute!" Satomi held up the cell phone charm and let it sparkle in the light from outside.

"Yes," Kotoko explained. "There's a cable car, the Golden Gate Bridge, and an assortment of crystals." She turned to Jinko. "I chose colors that I thought suited each of you."

"Cool! Thanks a bunch!" her friend responded.

"Did you bring something back for me, Kotoko?" She jumped when Kinnosuke thrust his head between her and Satomi and spoke almost in her ear.

"No, I'm afraid not…"

"Well then, did you try out any fancy restaurants there? I hear that San Francisco has lots of 'em!"

"We weren't there long…"

"Never mind! You wouldn't have found any of them to top my cooking!" he boasted. "Would you like some more rice? Maybe another plate of shrimp?"

"Not really…"

"Kin-chan!" Jinko stood up and grabbed him by the ear. "Will you go back to your counter and leave us girls alone?!"

"Wah!" he protested. "I missed Kotoko too!"

"You baka!" Satomi growled. "Kotoko is a married woman now. Has been for awhile. When are you going to stop mooning over her?"

Kinnosuke removed his ear from Jinko's grasp and straightened to his full height with offended hauteur, hand over his chest as if making a vow. "I shall remain loyal to Kotoko until the day that I die! I am sure that it is only a matter of time before That Bastard Irie does something stupid to break her heart, and then I will be here to put the pieces back together."

"Well, in the meantime, could you make yourself scarce? Your boss over there," Jinko waved at the lunchtime supervisor, who was indeed glowering in their direction, "has been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes."

"Yipes!" Kinnosuke scrambled around the table rapidly, losing all dignity when he slipped and skidded on one foot, waving his arms until he—thankfully!—regained his balance.

"Must be nice," Satomi mused as she attached the charm to her phone, "to be able to take exotic holidays."

"Yeah," added Jinko, "and I hear you're going back to California again this year."

"Nothing exotic about it." Kotoko slumped in her chair. "Except for the two days when Naoki and I were on our own, it was work, work, work!"

"But you were with Dylan, that scrumptious piece of unfortunately unavailable male beauty," Jinko sighed.

"Hah!" Kotoko spat. "Scrumptious he may be, but he can be a great pain in the ass."

"Ohh! Do tell!" Satomi and Jinko leaned in for the scoop.

"Well, he's either whipping out a tape measure to make sure I still fit the costume—you know, after my, uh, situation last year—or he's flirting with me to make Naoki jealous."

The girls's eyes widened. "You don't think he's really—"

Kotoko shook her head derisively. "No, he just likes to make mischief. He's like an ornery big brother, who can't quit teasing."

"So-o-o… how does Irie-kun act when he gets jealous?" Satomi asked.

Kotoko's eyes became unfocused and a slight smile grew. "He gets a little… possessive." She giggled. "It's kind of fun afterwards, if you know what I mean."

"Ha!" exclaimed Jinko. "That's a pretty good type of teasing, I'd say!"

"After all," Satomi pointed out, "he was the one who arranged for you two to get married without Mrs. Irie's lavish rigamarole. Seems like his technique is better than hers!"

After the girls finished laughing, Kotoko sighed. "It's not that hard of a job, doing the Kotorin appearances, but it does take something out of me. I meet so many people…"

"Yeah, we noticed several pictures of you were posted on the website of that conference you were at. It looks like you were quite popular." Satomi turned to her and raised an eyebrow when she saw Kotoko holding her phone and biting her lip. "What is it?"

"Ah, well," Kotoko attempted and failed to laugh, "sometimes the people you meet have stories that aren't exactly happy."

"Now Kotoko," Jinko grasped her forearm firmly, "you're not about to get embroiled in some other scheme now, are you?"

"No, no!" she denied. "But yesterday Dylan-san and I had a business lunch with a company president and his son. The boy is very fragile and has been in and out of hospitals for years. Meeting me seemed to be such a bright spot in his day that it made me a little teary afterwards. See, he hasn't been able to make many friends, being in that situation. I guess he has attached himself to me and has been sending me texts all morning." She held out the phone to show them.

Satomi scrolled down. "Whoa girl!" She exchanged looks with Jinko as she handed the phone over to the other friend. "I don't think you understand how serious this could be."

"What do you mean?" Kotoko asked, wide-eyed.

"This kid is fixated on you, I bet!" Jinko averred. "It looks like the beginning of another stalker situation."

"Nonsense!" Kotoko snatched her phone back. "He's just a sick little boy. Only around Yuuki-kun's age."

"Don't underestimate the destructive power of puberty," Jinko warned. "You know, hormones…adrenaline—you might need a bodyguard, Kotoko!"

"Ha!" Kotoko scoffed. "I think even I could handle someone his size, hormones and adreno-whatty notwithstanding."

"Right," Satomi agreed. "You have plenty of muscles with working out with the Tennis Team."

"Oh, I quit that," Kotoko informed them as she refreshed her lipstick. "There's room for only one tyrannical boss in my life, so I chose Dylan-san. But don't worry," she assured them. "I'm doing martial arts now!"

Her friends exchanged dubious glances, then shrugged. "Just remember to stay on your guard," Jinko admonished her.

"On the other hand," Satomi winked at Kotoko, "feel free to invite Mr. Gorgeous to spend time with us. Maybe those good lovin' vibes will rub off!"


	3. Chapter 3

"That went about as well as expected," Naoki commented as he and Kotoko sat in their room after the family meeting that evening .

"Hmm? Oh, you mean about Otosan-Irie having to lose weight? Well, I could have told him that…"

He laughed. "And he would have paid about as much attention as he would if you had told him how to restructure Pandai." He deepened his voice. "'The younger generation thinks it knows everything.' 'Respect your elders.'"

"I _do_ respect him." Kotoko's bottom lip protruded. "That doesn't mean he should ignore his health just because _I'm_ the one who told him."

"Well, at least he's planning to pay attention now that a medical professional has pointed it out. And I'm not talking about **_me_**! All I did was explain the data in the folder."

"And you did it so well!" She grinned at him. "Even **_I_ ** understood it!"

"Then you also understand that your own father has to cut down on the sake, right?" She nodded vigorously. "Those two—! Acting like they're still in their twenties with their eating and drinking habits! Well!" he slapped his hands on his thighs as he stood up, "we'll have to keep a close eye on them. They'll begin to backslide otherwise. And as stubborn as Mom is, she's still susceptible to his wheedling ways. She'll slip him some forbidden food, on the assumption that it won't hurt 'just this one time!'"

Kotoko giggled. "I can see that now! But maybe if we all do it—it won't hurt the entire family to eat healthier. I'll look back into my research when I was first getting Aoki-kun and Tanaka-kun in shape and come up with an easy exercise plan for him."

"That would be helpful." He smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. "But you might have to go with him to make sure he follows it."

"I could. Or I could just assign Chibi to him. That would keep him from slacking off. I can't count the number of times that dog has taken off like a rocket and dragged me behind!"

"Right!" he laughed. "Now turn off your computer and get ready for bed."

"Sure," she replied absently. "Let me check my email one more time… Bingo!"

"What is it?" In the process of pulling off his tee-shirt, his voice was muffled.

"The lead stalker in the Irie Naoki Fan Club has taken the bait. She wants a beauty consultation with me."

Naoki groaned. "Will you _please_ not refer to them by that name? Now that you've pointed the group out to me, I see them everywhere!"

"Can I recognize fellow stalkers or can't I?" she mocked him.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my discomfort." He threw the discarded shirt onto her head. "Can you imagine what would happen if the other medical students got wind of this? I'd be the laughingstock of the class."

"Or the object of intense jealousy," she countered as she freed her face from the shirt and returned her attention to the computer. "Let's see, she's finished with classes by 5:30 on Thursdays. Maybe we can meet on that evening next week…"

"Are you sure you'll be all right alone, Kotoko?" he asked. "I have a late lab again that day and can't accompany you."

"Oh, it'll be fine," she assured him. "We'll meet at Donny's and everyone there will watch out for me. Especially now that Matsumoto-san quit her job."

"I don't want to get a call that you were mauled by a crazed fan. Be sure to text me when you're home safely."

"You can save your worries. Nothing is going to happen."

* * *

"Do you have eyes on her yet?" Marina asked her companion.

Holding a pair of folding binoculars to her eyes, Tomoko scanned the sidewalk outside the restaurant. "No… wait! Here she comes!" She waved her arm wildly, and Motoki, seated three booths down, responded then settled herself as if patiently waiting.

"Tell me again why you're doing this," Keita begged his companions.

"Don't act so high and mighty!" Marina sniffed. "You're sitting right here with us."

Tomoko smirked. "But I think _his_ interest is Irie-san's sister, not Irie-san!"

A blush covered Keita's cheekbones. "Not at all! I'm just making sure you three don't act like total idiots in front of a stranger. _And_ in public, no less."

"With any luck, she won't be a stranger for long. Instead, she'll be our ticket for the inside track to Irie-san's heart. Duck down! She's coming in!"

Seated facing the waiting Motoki, Keita was able to witness Kotoko's entrance. She spent several minutes in spirited conversation with the hostess and others who emerged from the back. When she turned in the direction indicated, he lifted the menu in reflex to cover the bottom half of his face.

He could have saved himself the trouble. Kotoko had eyes for no one but Motoki as she almost skipped to the booth. After a bright greeting she sat with her back to the observers, who shamelessly turned and peered over the back of the seat until other customers began to stare at them.

Trying to pretend that he was taking no part in the espionage across the table, Keita let his eyes wander to the view outside, where the light was slowing dimming. A dark vehicle pulled up to the curb, and a uniformed chauffeur emerged and opened the passenger door.

"That's unusual," he muttered to himself. "Donny's isn't a fancy restaurant by any standards…"

"Hush!" admonished Marina, who was back to peeking at the meeting booth.

While the two nursing students were busy picking apart the interaction of the other girls via an examination of Motoki's expressions, Keita had a perfect view of the incident which occurred next. A slight youth, carrying an armload of flowers, spoke briefly with the hostess and was sent to the observed table. Both girls appeared surprised, but Kotoko stood and shook her head and forefinger vigorously at the newcomer. He saw her glancing about, as if unwilling to make a scene, then she guided the boy to an unoccupied table. Based on her body language, Keita concluded that she was upset at the interruption.

After another half hour, during which the youngster spent the time staring adoringly at her, Kotoko hugged Motoki and sent her on her way then stiffly joined the boy at the nearby table.

"Okay, now's our chance!" hissed Marina. "We'll catch up with Motoki and find out what she discovered. You can stay and watch the sister!"

Keita half-raised a hand in protest, but he was too late. They had already sped out the door, not fifteen seconds before the waitress presented him with the bill, which they had conveniently left for him. Cursing at their audacity, he glanced up from checking his wallet and saw that Kotoko and the youth had exited as well. _Damn!_

* * *

The boy still carried the bouquet. "But Kotorin, why won't you accept the flowers?"

"Because this is not right!" she told him. "You have to stop calling and sending me texts. And following me and bringing flowers is over the top!"

"But I love you, Kotorin!"

"I'm not Kotorin! And how did you know where I was, anyway?"

His face grew sullen. "Don't you remember? You told me you met clients here during our date, and I dropped by every evening..."

"It was not a _date_!" Kotoko felt like tugging her hair out by the roots—or better yet, _his_ hair—but remembered that he was in frail health.

"Nobuhiro-kun, you are in elementary school. I am not only in college but am married. Lunch last week was a business meeting with you and your father—nothing more. Please get that through your head."

"Love grows wherever it wants, Kotorin," he averred.

"Well, I'm plucking _this_ one out by the roots!" Kotoko shot back. "Now, how are you getting home?"

He sighed. "My chauffeur is driving around the area. He'll show up soon."

"Then I'm leaving. Remember: stop the calls, stop the texts, stop following me." She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. "You're a sweet kid, Nobuhiro-kun, but that's the only way I see you. Take care."

* * *

Keita watched the little drama out of the corner of his eye while standing at the cash register. With the closed door between them, he was unable to hear any of the conversation and walked out of the restaurant just as Kotoko turned the corner down the block.

The young man seemed to wilt then almost stagger to a nearby bench, supporting himself with an arm before slowly sitting down. Concerned, Keita approached him. "Are you all right, son?"

The boy looked up at him, face lit by the sunset and the streetlights which were beginning to flicker on. "Just what I need, _another_ person telling me I'm too young. How old are _you_?"

Keita straightened stiffly. "There's no need to be obnoxious. I'm a nursing student at the college here, and you looked wobbly. I thought you might need some assistance, but apparently I was mistaken. Good evening."

He turned and walked away, automatically following in Kotoko's direction. He heard the boy speak behind him. "Thanks, mister."

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" Kotoko fumed aloud with each step. "Satomi and Jinko were right! Now what do I do if he _still_ doesn't stop?"

"Talking to yourself now, Kotori-nee?" Kato jogged up to her, only a little out of breath. "We got your S.O.S. text, and I was the closest. What's up?"

"Oh, Kato-kun!" she wailed. "I've got another stalker, but it's a little boy who's ill. I tried to let him down gently because I didn't want to hurt him, but I don't know if I got through!"

"Now, now." He put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her close. "Everything will be all right. You're always too kind to people, so I'm sure he will be just fine."

"Thank you." She sniffed then rubbed her nose with her sleeve. "I'm going to have to tell Naoki that I'm in another scrape."

Kato laughed. "Don't stress over that. I don't think his life would have any meaning if he didn't rescue you at least once a month. Now, to change the subject to something happier, I'd like it if you would leave the second Friday in June open."

Thus distracted, Kotoko pulled out her phone and checked her appointment calendar. "I'm clear. What's the occasion?"

"It's the opening night of my senior year art exhibit." He bent down and waggled his eyebrows. "There'll be _fo-o-o-od_ ," he informed her in a sing-song tone.

"Silly!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'd come even without refreshments." After a few finger swipes she proclaimed, "Done!" She grabbed hold of his arm as they resumed walking. "So, Kato-kun, are there any paintings of _me_ in your exhibit?"

The man who was watching them in the shade of a store overhang chuckled. _'Kato-kun.'_ _What a coincidence!_ he thought. Then, as they passed under a strongly lighted restaurant sign he inhaled quickly. _Toshi-niisan?!_


	4. Chapter 4

The Irie Naoki Fan Club members were beside themselves. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Trailing along in the wake of Nursing Supervisor Hosoi, right there in the hallway of Tonan Hospital, they were presented with a view of their idol! And he wasn't in his usual cool, calm and collected mode, either. He was radiating such emotion!

"Why isn't Father at Sugimoto Hospital? That's where his physician practices, isn't it?" He bit out the words.

"But Onii-chan!" His mother's voice attempted conciliation. "Now that you're becoming a doctor, I thought it best to have him close by."

"I've only been taking medical courses for less than two months, Mother!" he almost howled. "How can _that_ be better for him than a familiar institution and caretakers who are knowledgeable about his history?!"

"Nonsense," she clipped out. "You wouldn't be going to school here unless it was excellent. I'm sure you have already revealed your potential, so no one wants to lose you by mistreating your father. You should just settle down and accept my decision."

He ground his teeth and rolled his eyes. "Fine! He's resting now, anyway, and I've got to get back to class. But if you're staying here, what are you going to do about Yuuki?"

"I called Kotoko-chan and she's bringing him to the hospital. They should be here any minute."

Sure enough, the two could be seen emerging from the elevator and heading their way in a rush. It wasn't necessary for Marina to poke her sharp elbow in Keita's ribs for him to turn that direction, and he whispered as much while rubbing his side.

Yuuki, slightly in the lead due to the fact that he didn't have to deal with running in heels, burst out, "Mama! Onii-chan!"

Naoki halted him with a hand to the shoulder. "He's taking a nap right now, Yuuki," he told him. "They've run some tests and we'll have more information in the morning."

"So he's not going to…"

Naoki enfolded his brother in a hug. The fan club members—with the exception of Keita—almost swooned, imagining themselves in Yuuki's place. "I won't lie to you. It appears to be a small infarction, but it could just as well have been a severe attack of indigestion. We'll have to wait to see what the tests reveal."

"That's right, Yuuki-kun!" Kotoko patted her brother-in-law on the back when Naoki loosened his hold. "And after they fix whatever is wrong, we'll take such good care of him that this will never happen again!"

Yuuki rubbed his eyes before snorting. "As long as you stay out of the kitchen, maybe!"

"Hey!" His mother swatted him on the top of the head. "Is that any way to speak to your Onee-chan?!"

Naoki turned to his wife and embraced her briefly. "Thanks for bringing Yuuki. I wouldn't have wanted him to be all alone at the house, worrying about what was going on."

"Oh, no problem!" she chirped. "It was easy-peasy picking him up from school…"

"Ai, Kotoko! Don't ever do that again! Stop hitting me, Mom!" He turned to his mother. "She totally embarrassed me in front of my entire class, hugging and kissing me!"

"Just showing affection for my _little_ brother!" she teased, leaning over and pinching his chin.

He swatted her hand away. "Say it while you can, baka! Once I hit puberty, you'll be the only squirt in the family!"

"Such familial love!" Motoki sighed from the group's huddled surveillance point at the corner of the corridor.

Nurse Hosoi, who had proceeded down the connecting hall, waddled back once she realized that her ducklings were no longer following her. "What are you students doing here, gawking at a patient's family! This is unbecoming of nurses-in-training!"

The quartet immediately bowed their apologies to both their supervisor and the Iries, who until that point were unaware of the observers.

"Oh!" Kotoko exclaimed. "It's Motoki-chan, and uh, I don't remember the rest of the names," she ducked her head.

"That's okay! You only met them once!" Motoki began introductions again and included Nurse Hosoi, as well.

"Ah! Friends of my Kotoko-chan! And all nurses!" Mrs. Irie stepped forward and held hands with each of them briefly.

"Well, we're actually students…" Keita, with his concern for detail, attempted to be precise, but the steamroller known as Irie Noriko ignored him.

"Please tell me that I can depend on _all of you_ to take good care of my husband!" she begged, spreading her arms wide in supplication.

Chief Nurse Hosoi adjusted her glasses. "Of course he will be well tended! We nurses pride ourselves on the high quality of care in Tonan Hospital." She gestured to the students next to her. "And these are some of the brightest in their class, despite their untoward curiosity a moment ago. I was just about to introduce them to their first patients. I will allow them an extra assignment with Mr. Irie, if that is your wish."

"See, Onii-chan!" Mrs. Irie turned to her elder son. "I told you that Tonan Hospital was a good choice!"

Naoki rubbed the line of his left eyebrow. "Yes, mother," he replied wearily. "You were right. Mark it on the calendar," he muttered.

"Now, come along!" The nursing students once more trailed after the head nurse, stealing a few glances over their shoulders as they departed.

Mrs. Irie peeked through the door and, seeing that her husband was stirring, escorted Yuuki in to greet his father.

"Do you have a headache, Naoki?" Kotoko asked with concern. "I have something…" she half turned to rummage in her bag. He placed a hand on hers to stop her.

"It'll be okay," he grinned wanly at her. "I'm in a hospital. There's bound to be something I can take. Besides," he teased, "I remember the last time I took medicine from you!"

"That was years ago!" she scolded him." I'm more careful now. Aha!" She held a bottle aloft which he plucked from her grasp.

"Mm-hmm. 'For the alleviation of menstrual cramps.' Thanks a lot, _darling_."

"It's still painkiller," she sniffed as she snatched it back.

"Don't you realize what a nightmare we've just been plunged into?" Kotoko looked up at him in puzzlement. "You've invited the entire fan club to spend time in Dad's hospital room!"

"Actually," Kotoko was impelled to point out, "it was _Okaasan_ who did that."

"Aargh!"

"Plus, _she's_ the one who had Otosan brought here. But think about it," she placed a hand on his cheek, "won't it ease your mind a little bit that he's nearby during the day? Where you can drop in at any time to check on him?"

"I suppose so," he grudgingly admitted, "except I'd rather not run into Mother constantly!" He looked at his wrist. "Damn! Now I'm late for my next class."

Kotoko laughed and gave him a shove. "Go on! I'll try to convince Okaasan to come home with Yuuki and me."

"Good." He ran his hand through his hair. "Remind her that the doctor will be going over the test results at 9:30 tomorrow morning."

"We'll be here, don't worry!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Even though it appears that this was not a heart attack, I'd like you to stay a while longer for more monitoring. Because of the incident, your high cholesterol is cause for concern, although," Dr. Sakurauchi scanned through some pages, "it appears to have improved slightly since your full scan last month."

"Well," Mr. Irie cleared his throat, "my wife has adjusted the food she prepares, and my daughter placed me on an exercise regimen."

"Good, good! Those are excellent preliminary steps. I think you would benefit still more from some form of medication. I'd also like to keep you under observation since your elevated blood pressure levels require further attention. Would the source perhaps be stress from work…?" The physician raised an eyebrow.

"If he has job-related stress, it's his own fault," Naoki interjected, straightening from his slumped position. He and Kotoko had been leaning against the wall, pinky fingers discreetly intertwined, during the medical summary. "Business is booming, toys and games are selling, and the R&D department has more projects than can be produced right now."

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Mr. Irie. "How do you know this?"

"I can still keep up with the financial issues of the company, can't I?" he asked. "Seeing that I own 15% of the stock, it makes sense to remain informed. His problem," he addressed the doctor while pointing a finger at his father, "is that he won't delegate. He employs a crackerjack team but chooses to micro-manage." He shook his head and faced Mr. Irie. "You're going to have to rid yourself of that habit if you ever plan to turn over the reins to Yuuki."

He bowed his head. "You're right, son. I suppose now is as good a time as any. Doctor, it won't hurt my health to have a _few_ business meetings, will it?"

The physician laughed shortly. "Just keep them brief and only one a day. Can you promise me that?"

"We'll make sure of it, Sensei," Naoki averred. "Mother, you heard, right?"

"Yes, dear." She moved to sit on the bed and placed an arm around her husband's shoulders. "Papa, your primary job now is to get yourself healthy. Bring that ridiculously handsome Dylan-person in to coordinate your staff meetings. He'll liven up the halls of this hospital."

Naoki addressed the two silent observers on the far side of the room. "Since Mother drafted you and your colleagues yesterday, I'd appreciate your assistance in watching over him. Don't let too many people in here, and notify me of any 'extra' meetings."

"Oh, yes, Irie-san!" Marina cooed.

"It will be our pleasure, er, our enjoyable duty to do so!" added Motoki.

He nodded at them with a slightly pained expression then turned back to his family. "Are you staying awhile, Mother?"

"Yes, I believe I shall. I'll be home this evening, but I don't think I'll make it in time to cook dinner."

"Don't worry, Okaasan," Kotoko looked up from her conversation with the doctor. "I'll handle that."

"Ouch!" Naoki looked at his father. "I think you'll be fed better than I will. Maybe I'll join you for evening meals." Since Kotoko failed to respond to his teasing with more than a slight tongue click, he headed for the door and informed the room's occupants, "I'm leaving for my next class. I'll see you later."

"Oh, Irie-san! I'll walk you to the exit," offered Motoki.

"I was going to do that!" argued Marina.

"You snooze, you lose, Sistah!"

"Hey wait!" He had already departed, and they scrambled to catch up, squabbling and shoving along the way.

"Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie called out. "Are you keeping the doctor from other patients?"

"Oh, no, Mrs. Irie." The physician smiled at her. "Your daughter is asking about a proper recovery diet for Irie-san." He turned back to the younger woman. "I think those resources will be a good start. If you need further assistance, please speak to Nurse Takami. She is the senior dietician on staff."

"Thank you so much, Sensei!" Kotoko bowed deeply in appreciation. "I know that good food will make Otosan better quickly!"

"Kotoko," Mr. Irie began with a worried look on his face, "about the food, uh…"

"No, no, relax!" she laughed. "Okaasan will be busy encouraging you while you are in the hospital. I thought I could collect recipes and organize meal plans so she won't have to worry about that after you are released!"

"Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie enveloped her in one of her massive hugs. "You are the daughter that I dreamed of, the daughter that I worked so hard to acquire, the daughter whose wedding I never got to see…"

"Okaasan, we agreed to let bygones be bygones," she reminded her. "Now it's my turn to leave for a class! I'll see you this evening!"

She closed the door gently behind her and set off down the hall. She smiled and waved as she saw a familiar face approach. "Ah! Greetings, Keiguro-san!" she called.

"Uh, it's Kamogari, Irie-san," the young man corrected.

"My pardon!" She bowed quickly. "I am bad with names at first. And you are…?" She smiled at the teenager in the wheelchair that Keita was pushing. The girl ducked her head and looked to the side.

"This is Nagasawa Akiko-san," Keita introduced her. "I am the primary nurse trainee assigned to her. And this is Irie Kotoko-san, the daughter of Irie-sama who owns Pandai. He is a patient in the hospital at this time."

The girl glanced up briefly then lowered her eyes again. "Well, it is very nice to meet you, Akiko-chan," Kotoko spoke. "And perhaps next time I'll remember _your_ name!" She winked at Keita before resuming her walk.

"That wasn't very polite, was it?" Keita asked the young lady gently. "I know that you are shy and don't like to be seen in the chair, but not using good manners is more of a disability than being unable to walk."

The girl didn't respond verbally, but reached over her shoulder and touched his hand on the wheelchair handle in apology. Keita's eyes darted down at the movement then lifted away in embarrassment. As he did so, he noticed a young man standing in the doorway to a patient's room, wearing a robe and gripping an IV pole. _Strange_ , he thought, _he looks familiar_.

* * *

Kotoko stopped suddenly outside her father-in-law's hospital room. "Okaasan, why are you in the hall? Has something happened to Otosan?" she asked the woman sitting in the chair next to the door.

Opening her eyes, Mrs. Irie reassured her. "No, no, Kotoko-chan! It's just that Papa has his department heads in there again, and I couldn't keep up with their talk. All that crazy terminology! And does everyone have to speak in acronyms?"

Kotoko laughed. "It sounds like a different language, doesn't it? Dylan-san has to explain every other sentence for me when he starts talking about what they go through to get Kotorin in the stores."

Mrs. Irie sniffed. "Well, he's in there as well. It's almost time for them to leave. I suppose I should go in and shoo them out."

Taking her hand, Kotoko pulled her to her feet. "I'll help you with that, Okaasan!" Pushing open the door, she called out cheerily, "Good afternoon, Otosan!" as if there were not half a dozen men in business suits huddled around the bed.

They all bowed and murmured, "Miss Kotoko," while Dylan slowly turned and winked at her. "Are you throwing us out now, darling?"

Kotoko kissed her father-in-law on the top of his shiny head and turned to him. "Your allotted minutes have expired. Go away and come back tomorrow!" She waggled her fingers to reinforce the command.

"Kotoko-chan!" Mr. Irie attempted to protest her assumption of authority.

"It's all right, sir." Dylan's eyes were gentle as he spoke to the older man. "We have already covered the main points. We'll regroup and meet again tomorrow at the same time. Murakami-san, Yoshinaga-san, Suzuki-san." He bowed the others out. "And as for you, young lady," he turned and proffered a fat manila envelope to Kotoko, "here are some fan letters that the L.A. office forwarded. You made a big hit over there!"

Kotoko flushed. "Really? Thank you!"

Dylan grinned cockily. "Why don't you read them aloud to the boss? Some are quite… _entertaining_. I pulled out the best for you!" He gave a low chuckle as he exited.

"Yes, Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie fluttered about, plumping up the pillow behind her husband's head. "I'd love to hear some of them myself."

"Okay." Kotoko dumped them on her lap and picked up the top one. "'Seeing you was like having a dream come true. I love you, Kotorin!' Okay, that's short and sweet. Let's see… 'I'm going to invent some rocket boots so one day I can fly like Kotorin.' There's a drawing too!" She showed them the picture. "Oh! I'd like to fly like that! But I'd probably fall out of the sky, I'm so clumsy."

"See, Kotoko-chan," Mr. Irie said, "it's not just children's toys and games. We can inspire imagination. And now you're a part of it as well."

"I never thought of it like that." She shuffled the papers. "Maybe there's another good one in here… 'My dream is to play a special game of love-love tennis with Kotorin. We would slowly…' What?!" Kotoko's face reddened rapidly, and she quickly shoved the papers back in the envelope.

"What is it Kotoko-chan?" asked Mrs. Irie with a concerned expression. "Is the English too difficult? Maybe I could…"

"Oh, uh, no, Okaasan, believe me you don't want to hear what _that_ letter says. Why in the world would they give it to me… Wait a minute!" Her brow creased in concentration. "That Dylan! He knew it was in there and left it for me to read out loud! He'd better watch out! I'll get him back for that!"

"Are those all the letters you're going to read to me?" asked Mr. Irie innocently.

Placing the envelope in the very bottom of her bag, Kotoko managed a smile. "I think that's enough for now. I'll bring them back tomorrow and we can read a few a day. Spread it out a little, you know?" _After I have a good look at what's in them first!_ she thought. "Meanwhile," she patted his hand, "I thought I might offer you a little pampering since you're all cooped up in the hospital. How about a manicure?"

"That's so thoughtful, Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie was in raptures. "I know that when I have one it is so relaxing!"

"While I'm taking care of Otosan," Kotoko spoke as she set out her bottles and tools, "you should take a few minutes to walk outside and get some fresh air. The weather is beautiful."

"Yes," Mrs. Irie looked out the window. "I can't believe that it is already June."

"Just barely," Kotoko laughed as she massaged lotion into Mr. Irie's hand and forearm. "Take your time!" she called as the older woman left the room then turned her full attention to her father-in-law. "Before you know it, Yuuki-kun and I will be flying to California for a week. Does the doctor think you'll be dismissed by then?"

"Oh, yes," he answered. "And I can go back to work soon after."

Kotoko looked at him sharply. "But no overdoing it!"

He chuckled. "As if I'd have the chance with everyone watching over me!"


	6. Chapter 6

"So, three meetings and Motoki never got any good intel from Irie-san's sister?" Tomoko asked Marina as they walked through the park-like area surrounding the hospital on their break.

"No. She wasn't able to schedule more appointments after their father was hospitalized."

"Well, you can't fault her for being a dutiful daughter and putting her parent's needs first," the other asserted.

"But Motoki's been left chomping at the bit! Of course, she has been especially snappish ever since she didn't get a cute guy for her nursing assignment." Marina sighed. "Not that _I_ had any better luck. That old Yoshida-san is hell on wheels. She's always whining about something, and nothing I do ever satisfies her! If I wasn't afraid of Hosoi, I'd pop her a good one."

"Now, Marina, you know you'd never do that! You love nursing too much," Tomoko reminded her.

"Yeah, right, but sometimes she really—Wait!" She grabbed hold of her companion's arm.

"What is it?" Tomoko asked as she was peremptorily tugged behind a tree.

"Over there! On the bench! Isn't that Irie-san's mother?" They peered around together.

"I believe you're correct. Hold on!" She halted her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"There's more than one source for information about Irie-san. Who better than the woman who gave birth to him?"

* * *

Mrs. Irie was delighted to meet again with two of the nursing students who were helping take care of her husband. After a few perfunctory questions about Mr. Irie's health, Marina went in for the kill.

"And you must be so proud of your son for deciding to go into medicine."

"Oh yes! Of course, he could succeed at whatever he chose to do, and he knows it. That's one of his more disagreeable traits," she confided to them. "His father had always hoped he would take over the company, and I must admit that I did as well, but he declared last year that this was what he wanted to do with his life. And, well, that was that!"

"So that's why he transferred over two years behind!" Tomoko mused. "Of course, I always knew that I wanted to be in this field. I just wish I had been aware earlier…"

"No talking of blood and guts!" Marina stopped that line of conversation with a hiss. She smiled at Mrs. Irie. "It was a surprise to the entire family then?"

"Oh, I think that Kotoko-chan had a good idea before we did!" she tittered. "She even helped him along. They were _so close_ at that time…" She was lost in thoughts of the missed opportunities in Kiyosato.

"You must be very proud of your daughter, then," Tomoko commented. At Mrs. Irie's quizzical look, she elaborated, "For helping Irie-san make his decision."

"Oh! Oh, yes, she is the perfect daughter. And it was all my idea, after all." Now it was Tomoko and Marina's turn to look confused. Mrs. Irie continued, "And do you know what she is doing at this very moment? She is giving Papa a manicure." She sighed heartily. "How considerate! As I told him, nothing is more relaxing than being fussed over!"

* * *

"So Mother got surrounded by the fan club members and volunteered you to help one of them with her job?"

Kotoko wrinkled her brow. "That's not exactly how I described it to you," she said slowly.

"Believe me, it's probably the true interpretation," he sighed. "Don't worry. I'll talk to her and make her get you out of this." He rose from the bed. Kotoko dropped the cosmetic case that she had been packing and launched herself at him. Thus halted, he looked over his shoulder at her in affectionate exasperation. While her arms encircled his waist, her legs still rested on the bed and her body's weight, the slippery bedspread, and gravity were combining to slowly pull her closer to the edge. "You know, you could have just asked me to wait," he quipped as he turned and pulled her upright.

She shrugged. "Sometimes actions are faster than words."

"You mean actions _speak louder_ than words," he corrected the mangled quote. "So what are you trying to say?"

Her hands rubbed against each other as she spoke. "I think I'd like to do it."

"'It'? You mean, helping out the student nurse? Which, in my opinion, is not letting her learn her job properly."

"Really, Naoki? Aren't nurses busy doing medicines and tests and feeding and other things to help the patients get well?" He nodded. "So how many of them have the time to do a light massage and manicure for an old woman who doesn't get any visitors?"

"Not many," he muttered.

"You didn't mind when I did it for Otosan," she reminded him. "You thought it was a—a thoughtful gesture!"

"All right! All right! Do what you want! You usually do," he conceded with a small grin. "But," he raised a finger at her, "don't even _try_ to do anything medical to the patient."

She raised her hand solemnly. "Scout's honor! Besides," she shuddered, "I hate needles and blood anyway."

"So when are you going to pamper this—" he paused. "'Old woman.' Do you know the name of the patient, by any chance?"

Kotoko had already resumed packing her portable manicure set and was debating between two shades of neutral nail polish. "Yes, it's Yoshida, I believe. Should I refer to her as Yoshida-sama, do you think?" she inquired absently.

"Of all the—" Naoki broke off. "I suppose I should let you know a few things about that person…"


	7. Chapter 7

"What's the matter, Kotoko-san?" Marina looked at her with concern. "Are you nervous?"

"Uh, just a little," she responded weakly. "Naoki told me about Yoshida-sama…"

"'Yoshida-sama.' Oh, she'll like that! Anyway, don't worry about her!" Marina slapped her between the shoulder blades with one hand while crossing the fingers of the other. "Her bark is worse than her bite."

After being literally shoved into the room, Kotoko had no choice but to bow deeply to the elderly woman seated in the bed. Once she had finished her scrutiny of the young woman clutching a bag to her chest, Mrs. Yoshida snapped, "And who are you? Another nursing student come to poke and prod and make my life even more miserable? Hmph! You're a failure already, being out of uniform."

"Oh, no, no," Kotoko stepped forward to explain. "I'm hoping to make you a little _less_ miserable, actually."

"It'll be a neat trick if you can. So," she glared at her, "answer my question: Who are you?"

Marina stepped around Kotoko and began to rearrange the bed pillows. "This is Irie Kotoko-san. She's going to give you a manicure and see what she can do to cheer you up!"

"Hah! Cheer me up? Better people than you have tried that, young woman. Wait, Irie? Are you—?"

"Isn't it a coincidence, Yoshida-san!" Marina interrupted her. "This is Irie-san's sister! How about that?"

The older woman turned to look closely at the stunned Kotoko. "There's not much resemblance."

Marina turned and stared at her as well. "You're right. Oh, well, genetics can be tricky. We learned that last year in nursing school. So, Kotoko-san, how would you like Yoshida-san situated?"

Kotoko shook herself out of her daze. "Uh, turned to the side so I can work on the lap tray." _My,_ she thought as Marina made it happen, _she must have told that story to help me out. How clever that was!_

* * *

"I'm, uh, well, it seems that Yoshida-san has developed an infatuation with me. She tries to make the attending physician order me to attend to her. Not that I'm qualified yet, but I've had to take her vitals in place of the nurses."

Kotoko had done her best to keep from laughing out loud. "So is there any female in the hospital who is NOT a member of the Irie Naoki Fan Club? Ow!" she squealed. "No tickling!"

"Don't tease. It gets worse." He lay back, placing his forearm over his eyes. "She's even more vicious and possessive than the younger fans, from what I can tell. And as a patient, she is extremely challenging for the nurses to attend to. Snapping at them, bullying them, even shoving them—. She has chased away more than one student nurse. But she is elderly and lonely and ignored by her relatives, not to mention in almost constant pain from neuralgia. Therefore," he sat up, "I'm not sure what she'd do if she came face-to-face with my wife. If you don't think you can take a bit of verbal abuse, see if you can back out of this favor."

"Or maybe not even let her know I _am_ your wife," Kotoko said musingly.

Naoki mussed her hair. "Isn't that counterproductive?"

"Huh?"

He rephrased the question. "Haven't you laid public claim on me in the medical department?"

"Yes, but maybe she wouldn't find out the truth…"

"You've never seen the power of the hospital rumor mill. Even Mother's skills pale in comparison."

"Well," Kotoko firmed her chin, "I gave my word so I'm going to go through with it. Just remember to put the pieces back correctly if things go wrong!"

* * *

Mrs. Yoshida appeared to appreciate the light arm massage that Kotoko gave her before concentrating on her hands. She waited until she was applying the polish before beginning her cross-examination. "Tell me about Irie-san's childhood!"

Kotoko looked up. "Um, what do you want to know?"

"Everything!" she sighed gustily.

 _Yikes!_ Kotoko thought. _I didn't really get to know him until we were almost out of high school_. "Well, he has always been extremely intelligent…"

"Any fool can see that! Tell me something new!"

 _Maybe his preschool cross-dressing_ …? No, that would be a betrayal. "He, uh, had an early experience that caused him to become withdrawn and cold, but he began to loosen up his senior year in high school."

"Why then? Tell, me, little sister! Is that when he first fell in love?"

Kotoko leaned away from Yoshida's face. "Not exactly. He…we…had some house guests and one of them decided to irritate him. It livened him up a bit."

"Hmm. I bet it was love. Ah! Never mind that, what were his pastimes?"

"Well, he was a great tennis player without even practicing. I hated that about him," she added, sotto voce.

"Ah, sibling rivalry! It's been years since I experienced that!" Mrs. Yoshida cackled. "Of course, I was always the winner in those contests."

"I can certainly believe that. Oh! And there is a younger brother, Yuuki-kun."

"Is he like his big brother?"

"Just the same," Kotoko averred. "Except brattier."

The interrogation continued until Marina burst through the door suddenly. "Yoshida-san! The doctors are making their rounds! They'll be here in a few minutes!"

"What?!" She turned to Kotoko and snapped, "Are you finished yet? I need to get ready!"

Her eyes wide, Kotoko answered, "R-ready? Just let me spray your nails dry and you'll be done! There!"

She found herself shoved aside as Marina repositioned the patient. "Here you go!" Marina patted down a few loose hairs on the top of Mrs. Yoshida's head then did the same to her own coiffure.

Kotoko backed into a corner and repacked her bag. She looked up from her task when the door opened and a middle-aged physician and half a dozen students entered. Among them was her husband.

"Just as I thought," she muttered. Naoki caught her eye and mouthed, "You okay?" She nodded in response.

"Dr. Irie! Dr. Irie!" Mrs. Yoshida waved wildly.

"Ho, ho, ho, Yoshida-san," the doctor greeted her. "Always wanting attention from Irie, eh? Remember what I told you last time—he's not a doctor yet! You must let me take care of you!"

The woman crossed her arms and groused as the physician examined her and gave a running commentary of his actions. Some of the students could be seen taking notes. _Not my husband_ , Kotoko noted. _Of course, with his stupidly accurate memory, he wouldn't need to…_

"Are you finished yet, doctor?" she barked.

He sighed and straightened. "Yes, Yoshida-san. Is there anything new that you would like to report?"

"Yes! This idiot here," she grabbed Marina's sleeve and tugged her forward, "has a fancy camera attachment for her smarty-pants phone. She's going to take a picture of me and Dr. Irie. Now come here!" She crooked a finger at Naoki.

"Once more, Yoshida-san," Naoki spoke evenly, "I'm not yet a doctor."

"Pshaw!" She waved away his comment coquettishly. "You will be in no time or my name's not Yoshida Toyo!"

With everyone's attention on the patient and the person reluctantly posing with her, Kotoko decided it was a good time to sidle out of the room. Alas, she moved too slowly.

"Hey, girl!" Mrs. Yoshida's voice called out. "Come over here and get in the picture! Not you, dimwit," she growled at an excited Marina, who tried to pass off the phone to one of the medical students, "I mean Irie-chan! The sister!"

With all eyes on her, Kotoko felt like butterfly pinned to a display board. "Me?" She pointed to herself in surprise.

"Yes, you! See my lovely nails," she crooned at Naoki. "That little one was kind to this old woman. I'll be happy to have this kind of sister once we get married!" A claw reached out and pulled Kotoko to the side opposite her husband.

Naoki leaned over Mrs. Yoshida's head with an overly wide smile pasted on his face. "Sister?" he breathed at Kotoko.

"Marina-san's idea," she replied just as softly. Naoki rolled his eyes, luckily after the picture had been taken.

Once released from the patient's tight grip, Kotoko resumed her exit as Marina protested, "Why can't I have a picture taken with Irie-san? It's my camera, after all!"

"No, he's mine!" snarled Mrs. Yoshida as she waved the printed photo in the air.

One of the medical students moved quickly to open the door and Kotoko cast him a grateful look. She was startled when he followed her into the hall and touched her arm.

"Irie-san's sister?" He gazed at her gravely through thick glasses half-hidden behind ragged bangs. "Not exactly what I expected, but, never mind! May I know your first name?"

"Oh, uh," she pushed some hair behind her ear, "it's Kotoko. Are you one of Naoki's classmates?"

He bowed. "My name is Funatsu Ryo. Perhaps he has spoken of me?"

Kotoko stared at him blankly and shook her head slowly. "No. He doesn't talk much about other students. Ah! But I saw you before!" She pointed at him. "The day I brought him a bento and met that group of nursing students in the hall!"

The young man gritted his teeth. "The Irie Naoki Fan Club."

"Oh! So you do know about it!" she gasped with a laugh. "I wondered…"

"Yes, the perfect Irie has his own groupies. Isn't it enough that he comes in first **_Every… Single…Time_** we go head-to-head on a test or project?"

"Really? But then he _is_ a genius. Why, his I.Q. is…"

"200! _I know!_ And he had the top score on the college entrance test as well!" He held his hands to his temples as his voice began to rise. "I applied to Todai so that I could compete against him, mano-a-mano, but for some reason he chose to come _here_. So I transferred and matched myself against him in the College of Science and Engineering, only to come up short once more. Then," he took a step towards Kotoko, "he changed his major to medicine. And here I am again!"

Kotoko backed away from his approach. "I guess things are still the same?" she hazarded.

"Considering all our past encounters, even then your oh-so-arrogant brother never mentioned the person who always comes in second place?!" When Kotoko shook her head, he continued. "That bastard! Always the center of attention! Even the patients ask for him…!"

"You _want_ to attend Yoshida-sama?" Kotoko's eyes were wide in befuddlement.

For a moment he appeared lost for words, then he shook his head impatiently. "It's the principle of the matter! Patients…nurses! They all want him! It's so unfair!"

Kotoko stared. "Is that how you see it, Futansu-san?"

"That's not even my name!" He clicked his tongue then narrowed his eyes. "What an airhead you appear to be! I bet Irie-san got all the brains in the family and left none for you."

Backed against the wall, Kotoko asked, "What's the big deal? You're obviously intelligent if you come in second to Naoki. Why make it personal?"

Funatsu's eyes unfocused as he gazed at a ceiling tile above her. "Personal. Yes, that's it!" His gaze snapped back to her. _I don't like this look_ , Kotoko thought. "How better to distract him from his studies than to know that his closest rival is dating his dingbat of a sister! So," his hand snaked out and grabbed one of Kotoko's, "why don't we go out tonight?"

"Why don't you NOT?" Naoki's voice appeared to be approximately the temperature of liquid nitrogen. "Release Kotoko this instant."

"Or what?" Funatsu taunted.

"Or you'll have an unscheduled tour of the emergency room," he replied then added, with emphasis, " _Second Place Funatsu_."

Kotoko breathed a sigh of relief when the door to Mrs. Yoshida's room opened and the remaining party exited. With the slight confusion behind him, Naoki reached over and retrieved his wife's hand and began propelling her down the hall. "Have a safe trip home," he said to her loudly for the benefit of the audience, "and I'll have a nice long chat with you later, _Sister!"_

"Ew!" Kotoko shook her wrist to dry the slight moisture left from Funatsu's sweaty hand as she continued down the corridor. _He must have swallowed that sister story hook, line and sinker. And what he wants to do with the fake information!_ she thought in disgust. Checking her watch, she decided to head straight to class and visit Mr. Irie later. Or that was her plan…

"Hi, Kagorami!" She waved at Keita. "And Akiko-chan!" she added to the young girl seated in front of him.

He sighed. "Do you have trouble with male names in general or is it just me?"

"It's not just you," she giggled. "I once had to make some friends wear name labels until I learned their names."

"Then look here!" He pointed to the plastic badge pinned to his shirt. "This is my name: Kamogari Keita. Not Kagorami, although you did get the vowels in the right order."

"Okay, then, Kamoragi-san."

"Just make it Keita. K-E-I-T-A. Can you handle five letters?"

"Keita." She tilted her head. "Keita-kun. No, Keita-san. I think I can remember it. It's very similar to a friend's name, and he's tall like you. Keita-san, Keita-san," she repeated in a sing-song voice a few more times.

"Never mind that, Irie-san," he interrupted, "you can always just read the badge if you can't remember. Were you here visiting your father?"

"No, I was trying to pamper Yoshida-sama a little and left after the doctor's visit."

"Pamper?" Keita queried.

"Oh, just an arm massage and a manicure. Say!" she addressed Akiko, "would you be interested in something like that?"

To Kotoko's surprise, the teenager shot her a glare and shook her head firmly.

"O-kay," Kotoko replied, slightly deflated. "Never mind then. Yikes! My class!" she yelped. "Gotta go! Bye!"

"Again with the rudeness, Akiko-chan," Keita chided her. "What do you have against Irie-san?"

* * *

Kotoko's clattering exit did not go unnoticed. Several nurses urged her to slow down, especially after she barely missed overturning an equipment cart, and a pair of eyes followed her noisy route through a partially open door.

Kotoko twitched her shoulders after the elevator doors slid shut. _Strange._ The past few times she'd visited she had felt…something familiar. _Now what was it?_


	8. Chapter 8

It was not difficult to persuade Satomi and Jinko to join Kotoko and Yuuki for one of their after-school visits with Mr. Irie. After greeting the older couple, the two friends chatted with Kotoko as Yuuki told his parents about his day. The youngest Irie also kept a sharp eye on his sister-in-law, who was making his father giggle every so often as she filed his toenails.

"Make sure you don't put any stupid polish on him, Baka!" he charged her. Kotoko stuck her tongue out at him and continued her task.

"Say, Kotoko, we dropped by the Martial Arts Club earlier this week, thinking we'd see you. They claimed you weren't a member!" Satomi informed her.

"Yeah!" Jinko chimed in. "Didn't you tell us you were quitting tennis for that group?"

"No, I just said I was taking up martial arts," Kotoko corrected her as she dug in her bag. She began shaking a bottle of clear polish while Yuuki glared at her.

"That's right, Kotoko-chan," Mr. Irie spoke up. "Mama enrolled you in Yuuki's judo school because she's afraid you'll be whisked away the next time you appear at a convention." Mrs. Irie nodded beside him.

"Who'd be dumb enough to want _her_?" Yuuki scoffed.

"Your big brother, for one," his mother snapped back.

"You'd better watch it, little Irie-kun," Jinko warned him, "or Kotoko will use her mad judo skills and wallop you good!"

"So what color belt do you have now, Kotoko-chan?" Mr. Irie asked. "Are you still a white belt?"

Yuuki snorted. "It's more like an invisible belt."

"Oh?" His father looked confused. "I must be out of touch. Is that some new rank?"

"No!" Yuuki laughed. "It's just that she sucks so badly she might as well not be taking lessons. I don't see how she managed to stay in tennis for two whole years."

Thanks to Satomi and Jinko's familiarity with the Irie family, there was no need for Kotoko to defend herself against the insult. It was a vicious battle but mercifully—for Yuuki—brief. After scolding her son for teasing Kotoko ("for the 478th time!"), Mrs. Irie excused herself for a few moments.

"Hey, Kotoko," Jinko called, holding Yuuki in a headlock, "do you want to practice your self-defense on this brat?"

She shook her head with a laugh, then Satomi asked, in all seriousness, "Were you frightened on your trip for some reason?"

"Not a bit! The crowd was a little noisy and got a trifle rowdy at one point, but nothing to be afraid of. But somehow, after Okaasan heard Naoki and Dylan-san's accounts, she decided that I was 'in danger'." The group flinched away as she held the open bottle of polish while demonstrating her air quotes. "Anyway, the convention next month will be larger, and she was concerned, and I didn't want to stress her out any more, considering what she went through last year…" She paused to take a breath. "There! All done!" She clapped her hands. "What do you think?"

"Oi, Kotoko!" Yuuki howled. "You put something weird on his toes!"

"Did she? Oh my!" Mr. Irie attempted to look at her handiwork himself, but his diet and exercise program had not progressed enough to provide visibility over his embonpoint.

"I used a polish pen to draw Pandai's logo on your big toenails! See, Otosan?" She held up a mirror and eventually angled it properly.

"Uh, that's quite…I don't know…" Mr. Irie searched for the proper wording.

"Take it off, Baka!" Yuuki grabbed for her bag.

"Nonsense!" Kotoko snatched it back. "It is simply a-a 'masculine decorative accessory'! And a nice bit of advertising, I might add," she bragged as she admired her creation. "I could do it for you too, Yuuki-kun!"

That set off another round of squabbles which only ended when Mrs. Irie returned with Motoki and Keita in tow. "Look who I ran into at the nurse's station!" she caroled gaily.

"Mama! Look what that baka Kotoko did to Dad's toes!"

"My, Kotoko," Mrs. Irie bent over to examine the masterpiece, "that is most…unique."

"I thought so," she beamed. "Hello, Motoki-chan, Keita-san!"

"Finally she remembers my name!" he muttered. Then, looking down at his chest, "Oh, nametag. Right."

"Well, at least her presence is to your advantage," Motoki mumbled back. "Irie-san's not even here, plus there are extra females. More competition, do you think?"

"Delusional as ever, aren't you?" Keita then walked to Mr. Irie's bedside and began to inquire quietly about his condition.

"And who do we have here?" Motoki asked the group of girls. Kotoko quickly introduced her two friends, mentioning that they had been close since high school. "Oh, so you two know Irie-san as well?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"Irie-kun?" Jinko laughed. "Yeah, we knew _of_ Mr. Perfect in high school."

"Couldn't help it, since he gave the welcoming speech on Opening Day," added Satomi. "Plus, being friends with Kotoko!"

"D'you remember, Kotoko, all those times you'd watch him from our lowly Class F classroom?"

"So those two weren't in the same class?" Motoki appeared surprised.

"What?" Jinko snorted. "Kotoko in Class A? That would've been a disaster!"

"Of course, she did show some potential when Irie-kun tutored her that one time," Satomi pointed out. "But that could've only elevated her to Class E, possibly. Nowhere near Class A!"

"You mean, he didn't help her study on a regular basis?" Motoki appeared astounded. "That doesn't seem at all like him…"

"Whoo! Does he ever have you guys fooled!" Jinko hooted. "Let's see, how many different nicknames did we have for him…?"

"Snotty Irie-kun," Satomi counted on her fingers, "Computer-for-Brain Irie-"

"I came up with that one," Jinko winked at Motoki.

"That _was_ a good one," her friend agreed. "Mr. Genius—"

"Girls, girls!" Mrs. Irie tried to stop them, but she might as well have ordered the tide to be calm.

"Arrogant Asshole," Jinko added to the list. "Cold-blooded Jerk."

"We all used that one at point or another," Satomi informed their audience. Mrs. Irie hid her face while Yuuki's expression grew mutinous.

"Looks like you had it rough then," Keita observed sympathetically.

"A little," Kotoko replied.

"Ice Water for Blood..."

"That Bastard Irie…"

"To be honest," Kotoko interspersed, "that one is exclusively Kin-chan's."

"And you can almost _hear_ the capital letters!" added Satomi.

"Kin-chan?" Motoki appeared out of her depth.

"Just Kotoko's lovesick swain since first year of high school," Satomi informed her.

"Ooh, a serious contender for the hand of fair Kotoko, then?" Motoki asked, shooting a knowing look at Keita.

"Not a bit!" Satomi replied, oblivious to the byplay.

"Anyway, he _has_ eased up a little since…"

"What is all this ruckus?!" Head Nurse Hosoi stood in the doorway, feet spread, arms akimbo. "I've had complaints from other patients about the noise." She adjusted her glasses and peered at Keita and Motoki. "Kamogari and Kikyou, I expected better of you two! Now, say your goodbyes and leave the family alone." A little shamefaced, the two nursing students bowed their farewells and left.

"We need to be getting on as well," Satomi said, gathering her purse. "Glad you're feeling better, Mr. Irie, and it was great seeing you, Mrs. Irie. Oh, and sorry about insulting your son."

She and Jinko bowed out of the room, with Jinko hollering, "See ya later, Kotoko!" as the door closed behind them.

"Well!" Mrs. Irie fanned herself. "Those young ladies sure are lively. But Kotoko, it looks like that young male nurse might be interested in you."

Kotoko stared at her, then burst out laughing. "What an imagination you have, Okaasan! I'm not a femmy futile by any means…"

Mrs. Irie appeared confused until Yuuki leaned over and whispered, "Femme fatale."

"…and besides, they all know that Naoki and I are married!"

* * *

Motoki swatted Keita as they walked out of the hospital later. "You are way too passive, my good man! You should have pulled her off to the side and chatted her up a bit! But no, you spent most of your time with her father and hardly cast any longing gazes her way."

"We are in school to be nurses, Motoki. We're here to tend and heal the sick, not chase romantically after family members!"

"You're lucky I have your back. At least that Kin-whoever isn't a rival for you, based on what her friends said!" Her face darkened. "But I don't trust them. Whatever their excuses, they're probably in love with Irie-san also. After all, what female could resist him?"

"Well, since you claim to speak on behalf of all womankind, maybe you could help me with Akiko-chan. Normally she's polite—although shy—with anyone we meet, but she has been downright rude with Irie-san—female Irie-san, that is—on several occasions. I don't understand it."

Motoki heaved a great sigh. "Oh, you little innocent heartbreaker!"

"What?!"

She took him by the arm and propelled him forward. "Let me 'splain something to you…"


	9. Chapter 9

Keita sighed. It was one thing after another. First was the conflict between his duty to a patient and his attraction to that patient's daughter. Second, to complicate matters of the heart, according to Motoki one of his other charges had romantic feelings for him. His third worry was the strange spying habit of that kidney patient... Well, he'd been clearly told by Hosoi-sempai that the wealthy child was none of his concern. But now—in the middle of all this, in addition to his challenging school work—his mother was nagging him to attend his cousin's art exhibit.

"You know, I'm extremely busy with my classes and my nursing duties at the hospital now," he tried to explain. "I can't stay out late for some fairly unimportant affair…"

"Don't give me those kinds of excuses, Keita-kun!" His mother's sharp tone had him wincing and holding the phone several inches from his ear. "You and Toshi-kun were inseparable when you were younger, at least until we moved to Sendai…"

"Yes, Mom, but that's been years. People change."

"But your relatives don't! Your poor aunt Sakura broke her ankle and can't go to her own son's show. The least you can do is represent the family. Plus, the exhibit starts early enough that you can get all the 'beauty sleep' you need afterwards."

"All right! All right!" he capitulated as he neared the hospital. "I'm almost at the campus, and I have to turn off my phone for classes and work. Just text me the information and I'll dress up and play dutiful son and cousin!"

"Texting, bah! I can't do that with the characters so small. I'll just send you an email. At least I can see what I'm doing with the computer!"

"Whatever," he sighed. "Now seriously, I have to go!"

* * *

Nursing a plastic cup of weak punch, Keita squinted at one of the pieces on display. That anime-styled character almost looked like…

He turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Keita-kun?"

Keita's eyes widened. "Toshi-nii?"

"Wow! You grew out your hair!"

"And you cut yours!"

Kato's face split into a wide grin. "Well, it was about time I did something about it. The grunge look is only acceptable when you're young and rebellious. But it's great to see you! Did you make a special trip for the exhibit?"

"No, I actually attend school here. I'm in the nursing program."

"No kidding! It's amazing that we've never run into each other."

"Well," Keita shrugged, "we tend to stick with our own kind. People get attached to their cliques." He nodded at the painting. "I see you're still involved in that anime stuff."

"You shouldn't be so insular," his cousin gently scolded him. "During the past couple of years, I've been pushed out into the world, and it's a whole lot more interesting."

"Yep, I can see." Keita looked him up and down. "You're certainly sharper dressed than before and a lot more polished."

Kato laughed. "That's due to this young lady here." He indicated the image in front of them.

"Oh, I was wondering if it was based on a real person. By any chance, is she—"

"Kato-kun! We _finally_ found you!" The whirlwind otherwise known as Kotoko swept down upon them, Dylan in her wake. After giving him an exuberant hug, she said, "You _did_ have a picture of me!"

"That's right, Kotori-nee." He nodded and bowed to Dylan. "Greetings, Saeki-san. I'm honored that you took the time to come."

"Wouldn't miss it." He flashed a grin. "Of course, I'm only here as a stand-in, considering that…"

"Wait! I know you!" Kotoko pointed at Keita. "It's…"

He shook his head. "You can't remember without the nametag, can you? Keita. KEITA."

"You're acquainted with my cousin, then?" Kato asked in surprise.

"Cousins?!" Kotoko clasped hands in front of her chest. "Really?!"

"Of course, we haven't spent much time together in the past ten years, yet he still showed up," Kato said.

"Well, you know my mother," Keita waggled his eyebrows. He and his cousin groaned in unison.

"Interfering?" Dylan interposed lazily. "Sounds a lot like Mrs. Irie."

"Dylan-san, you shouldn't speak of Okaasan like that!"

"Darling, I of all people have the right to do so! However," he pushed up his jacket sleeve and checked his watch, "we need to be hitting the road now or 'Okaasan' will be after my hide for making us late to her special dinner."

"Eek! That's right!" Kotoko quickly hugged her friend again and bowed to Keita. "I'm sorry we can't stay longer. Okaasan and Otosan planned something at the last minute."

"That's all right, Kotori-nee. I'm just glad you made it," Kato laughed.

"See you later!"

Keita watched the two depart with a pensive expression. "How do you know Irie-chan?" he asked. Motoki had convinced him to change the honorific to avoid confusion with her brother.

"What? Have you actually attended this school for the past few years and _not_ heard of her?"

"Remember, I don't get around much."

Kato shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you don't know who that girl is. She single-handedly turned the most outcast of the campus clubs into one that is now quite desirable and popular."

Keita raised his eyebrows. "Your nerd club, you mean?"

"Show a little respect to your elders!" he laughed. "She took us in hand, and in return we launched her on her road to fame. It's not braggadocio when I say that her association with our Anime Club brought her enough recognition for her to win the Miss Tonan pageant as a first-year! Now, due to certain business contracts that resulted from that, she is currently recognizable throughout Japan."

"A local celebrity, then?" Keita looked surprised.

"Moving towards international," Kato amended. "She has already made one trip to the States representing Pandai—the Irie company—and will be going with Saeki-san again next month."

"So, is Irie-chan dating that man?" he asked Kato.

His cousin looked at him with surprise then let out a short laugh. "Saeki-san? Hardly. I think he was only acting as an escort this evening. Appearing as her 'arm candy' is just a bonus."

"Are you sure? They seem very close."

"Absolutely positive, and for two very good reasons."

"And they are?"

"Well, one, he is…"

"Kato-san!" One of his fellow students grabbed his sleeve. "A cameraman from the college media department wants to take a picture of you and get a few sound bites. He's in a rush, so come right away!"

"Sure!" Kato turned to his cousin apologetically. "I'm sorry, Keita-kun. I'll get back to you in a few minutes."

"Oh, that's okay," he shrugged. "I've got to get going anyway. Early class, you know." As he left the gallery, he thought, _and I found out what I needed to know anyway_.


	10. Chapter 10

Naoki halted at the door to his father's hospital room. "I can't believe this," he muttered.

"Onii-chan!" His mother stood and caroled his nickname across the room. "You'd better hurry or there won't be any food left."

He stepped forward and looked at the makeshift dining area which filled half the hospital room and had been cobbled together from folding tables and chairs. An assortment of food was set out on platters. "I can't believe you convinced the hospital to let you do this."

"Nonsense!" His mother waved away his incredulity. "Thanks to all those helpful nurses, it was no problem whatsoever!"

"Better hurry, Onii-chan," Yuuki warned him between mouthfuls. "Dylan-san is taking all the good stuff."

Naoki nodded at the older man, who, true enough, had a full plate and was happily transferring the food to his mouth, then turned to his father. "Dad, are you sure you should be eating this? You've been on a strict diet for the past few weeks."

"Not to worry, Naoki-kun!" Mr. Aihara slapped him on the shoulder. "I've adjusted my recipes to the diet specifications and prepared all this myself. This is the preview of my restaurant's new traditionally flavored healthy menu items."

"Even though the hospital provides lots of nourishing food, there's no one on staff who can cook like you, Ai-chan!" The two old friends gave each other a bear hug and continued their raid on the food.

"What's this, Kotoko?" Naoki looked at the miniscule amount on her plate. "Did you fill up already?"

He was taken aback when she looked up at him with an expression of pouting misery. "Dylan-san measured me again and said this was all I could have," she whispered. "I was just one centimeter over… Why, when Otosan brought all this good food?!"

"Mm." Naoki placed more on her plate while his eyes dared Dylan to interfere. "Eat all you'd like, Kotoko. You can burn it off later."

She tilted her head at him. "What? Oh!" she gasped when she grasped his meaning. "Sure thing!" She began scooping more onto her plate.

"Oi, Kotoko! We've got to sleep _some_ of the night," he teased.

"What's that you're saying, Onii-chan?" his mother asked.

"Ah, just that this food is… such a _delight_."

"Oh course! Don't be shy! Take some, take some!" she urged.

* * *

A few minutes later, Yuuki tugged on Naoki's sleeve. "Onii-chan, can I talk to you and Kotoko? Outside the room, in private?"

"Sure," he answered, taken aback. "Do you think he's going to ask for the 'birds-and-the-bees' speech from us?" he asked his wife on their way out.

"If he does, I'll let you do the talking. Your grades in biology were much better than mine."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course they were, Class F. Ouch!" He rubbed his side where her fist had landed. "So what is it, Yuuki?" he asked in the hallway.

His brother looked worried. "Is it really a good idea for Kotoko and me to leave for a week just after Dad gets out of the hospital? Won't that put too much of a strain on Mom, to care for him on her own?"

Naoki sighed. "First, she's going to be by herself with him the week before you go anyway. You and Kotoko—and me, for that matter—will be in school at that time. You're actually getting to skip the last few days of class for travel to Comic-Con, don't forget."

"Oh, that's right."

"Second, he's in great shape now. By the time you two leave, he'll be cleared to return to the office for part of the day. So while your concern for him does you credit, there really isn't anything to worry about."

 _Well, there is one thing,_ Kotoko disagreed silently, _but I'm going to take care of that myself._

"Thanks, Onii-chan," Yuuki smiled at him. "That reassures me."

"No problem." Naoki grinned as he placed an arm around his brother's shoulder and ruffled his hair.

"Obviously I'm not needed here," Kotoko sniffed. "Well, while you two do your male bonding thing, I'm going to visit the little girl's room. Don't eat all the shrimp!" she warned Yuuki. "Otosan says it's really low in calories, and I'm coming back for more!"

"Makes you want to do just that when she tells you not to, doesn't it?" asked Naoki as she headed around the corner.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not deal with her wrath if I do," Yuuki sighed.

* * *

Kotoko was humming the Kotorin theme as she headed back to Mr. Irie's room. A little itch, a tingle really, that she had felt before began to manifest itself again. _Now I remember what this is_ , she thought. _Someone's watching me. I just need to find out where…Aha!_ She spied a door cracked open a few centimeters. She sauntered past, then quickly reversed direction and pushed the door completely open with full strength.

There was an "Oof!", the sound of a body hitting the floor, and loud metallic clattering.

 _Oh, dear_ , Kotoko thought guiltily, _maybe I shouldn't have done that…_ She peered around the door and exclaimed, "Nobuhiro-kun?!" She offered to call a nurse for him and was grateful that he chose to rely solely on her strength to regain his feet and set his IV pole back up. _How would I have been able to explain_ _ **that**_ _, by the way?_

Nobuhiro sat on the edge of his bed, and Kotoko perched on the edge of the guest chair. After fidgeting for several minutes under his ardent gaze, she burst out, "How long have you been in the hospital this time?"

He lowered his eyes. "I was admitted the day before Mr. Irie was brought in. I, uh, noticed you during all the commotion."

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Yes, Okaasan can make things lively. So you've been spying on me ever since?"

"Not just you," he admitted, bottom lip protruding slightly. "There's not much else to do all day."

She pointed to the red box next to the bed. "That's a 3DS. Don't tell me you don't have anything to entertain you."

He scowled. "I've mastered all the games already."

"How about school work?" she asked. "Surely you can't be ignoring that, just because you're in the hospital?"

"I'm a little behind. I don't always understand it because I'm out so much."

"Why doesn't your father hire you a tutor?" she asked practically.

"I haven't told him," he muttered. "Plus, he's been in Europe for the past few weeks."

"Then how about your mother?"

"They're divorced. I haven't seen her for several years."

Kotoko sighed. _Such parents!_ "Well then, friends, maybe?"

"I'm in school so infrequently that I don't have any. Plus it's an all-boys school." He leaned forward. "Won't you come visit me, Kotoko-san? See, I remembered not to call you Kotorin!" He smiled up at her winsomely.

She frowned at him. "You can cut it out with the puppy dog eyes. I'm really not what you need right now."

"What?" he protested.

Ignoring him, she continued, "You need friends, you need a tutor, and you need entertainment." She stood up abruptly. "Luckily, I know where you can find all three, in one package. Hang on for a minute!"

"Wait!" he called fruitlessly after her.

* * *

"You mean that the nursing and medical students believe you and Kotoko are siblings?!" Dylan asked incredulously. "How in the world did _that_ happen?"

Naoki briefly explained the initial misunderstanding, aided and abetted by the insularity of the medical department students. "Once the patient repeated the nursing student's story in front of medical students, the tale took a life of its own." He gave a short laugh. "The actual professors apparently know the truth but, according to my mentor, are staying out of it."

"That doesn't sound very responsible of them," Dylan commented.

"He said that the fiction might actually be safer for Kotoko than the truth. I'm not sure what he meant."

Dylan snorted. "You've never seen an honest-to-God cat-fight, have you?"

"Not really. Our family tends to prefer canines. Remember, you've met Chibi."

"Sorry, American idiom…" He shook his head. "No matter. I can't believe Kotoko is allowing the brother/sister assumption to stand, especially with that Irie Naoki Fan Club she was going on about."

Naoki shot him a look. "My wife talks to you entirely too much. Anyway, I've tried telling her, but she is absolutely convinced that they know the truth. You know how she can get," he tilted his head and raised eyebrows at the older man.

Dylan sighed. "And _you're_ not planning to put a stop to it?"

A wide grin seldom seen outside of his immediate family spread across Naoki's face. "I'm going to let it run its course to its inevitable and—most likely—hilarious end." He pursed his lips as a thought crossed his mind. "Of course, there is the problem of Second Place Funatsu…"

"And that would be…?"

"An extremely competitive fellow student who seems to think that my concentration will be broken if he dates my 'sister'."

Dylan face-palmed. "And I suppose Kotoko is blind to his overtures?"

"Absolutely. Thanks to conflicting class schedules he doesn't run into her that often. I'm the one suffering when I have to listen to his puerile daydreams about her." He gave a huff. "If he spent half the time studying as he does thinking of ways to aggravate me… No, never mind. He'd still come in second."

"Egotistical much?"

Naoki ignored him. "And to make things even more delightful, Mother has persuaded herself that the male nurse assigned to Dad is crushing on Kotoko. Again, believing that she's my sister."

"You have the most screwed-up family life I've seen since the Skywalkers traveled the galaxy," Dylan complained. He and Naoki turned their heads toward the sound of clattering feet in the hall drawing near.

Kotoko slammed the door to her father-in-law's room against the wall. "You! Irie Yuuki!"

Yuuki jumped then squawked, "No, Kotoko! There's shrimp left! I didn't eat it all!

"What?" She shook her head. "Never mind. Come with me and bring your school bag." She grabbed him by the wrist.

Dylan handed the bag to him on his way out and waved cheerfully before saying, "Glad she didn't focus those laser eyes on me."

"Right," Naoki agreed. "She has some bee in her bonnet again. So," he crossed glances with the older man, "Rock-Paper-Scissors for the rest of the shrimp?"

"You're on!"

* * *

Kotoko may not have been the most athletic person, but once she made a good start she could move quickly. Yuuki was dragged protesting down the hall and spun into Nobuhiro's room when she flung the door open and took the turn too quickly. He skidded but won the battle against gravity and stood panting in front of the bed, school bag clutched to his chest.

"Are you trying to kill me, Baka?!" he roared.

"Don't call Kotorin baka!" Nobuhiro cried.

"You sounded just like your brother then," Kotoko commented. "And you," she turned to the other boy, " _you_ called me Kotorin again, and without an honorific to boot. If you don't stop that, I'll make you refer to me as Irie-sama!"

Both boys stared at her, then Yuuki let out an aggrieved sigh. "So why am I here, _Onee-chan_?"

"This is Nobuhiro-kun." She indicated the youth on the bed. "He needs a friend who can help with his school work."

"And I'm supposed to be it?" Yuuki glared at the other boy.

"I'm not in the habit of begging for friendship," Nobuhiro said in a clipped tone.

"With that attitude, you wouldn't be very successful!"

"Then leave, why don't you?"

"Right! I'm outta here!"

"Boys, boys!" Kotoko captured Yuuki before he could escape back into the hall. "Maybe I didn't say it properly. Nobuhiro-kun has to be in the hospital a lot, and he's having trouble keeping up with his school work." She turned to the other boy. "Yuuki-kun here is my younger brother—"

"Brother-in-law!"

"—and he is always top of his class in grades." She patted the top of his head and added, "Just like his big brother."

Yuuki shoved away her hand. "Kotoko, I know you mean well…"

"Yes, I do!"

"But you can't force people to be friends. It doesn't work that way."

"Really?" She leaned forward into his face. "Do you have such an overadan—overbun—so many friends that you couldn't squeeze in one more?"

"Overabundance," He corrected her quietly then stepped closer to the bed and held out his hand. "I'm not saying that we can be friends, but I'll be glad to look over some of your class work until I have to leave."

"I don't want to keep you from your family." Nobuhiro's reply was stiff.

"Ah, it's okay. The old folks get to talking after a while and forget I'm there."

"Are you saying I'm old?" Kotoko squinted at him.

He snorted and turned to her. "You'd better go back and see if they left you any crumbs, Baka-chan."

"They better not have eaten all the shrimp, Squirt!" she called as she swiftly exited.

"You two have an…interesting relationship," Nobuhiro commented.

"Tell me about it! Now, what subject are you having the most trouble in?"

The two winced when they heard a shriek from down the hall. "No more shrimp?" Nobuhiro hazarded.

"Most likely," sighed Yuuki.


	11. Chapter 11

Three days before the big departure date Kotoko squared her shoulders outside her father's restaurant before pushing the door open.

"Sorry, but we're clos—Oh, it's you, Little Miss!" Odawara grinned at her. "Long time no see!"

"I'm glad to see you're in good health, Odawara-san," she said, bowing. "Are my father and his idiot apprentice in the back? I need to have a few words with them."

He cackled at the description. "It looks like Boss's nickname for him has rubbed off. Hey, Boss! Kinnosuke! You've got company!" He gestured with his towel to a table. "Have a seat there. I'll bring a drink to keep your throat moist while you're yelling at them."

"I didn't say I was going to yell," Kotoko argued.

"Little Miss," he grinned at her, "whenever a woman says she wants to have a 'few words' with a man, raised voices are going to happen."

"Kotoko!" Kinnosuke's excited cry was immediately subdued when Mr. Aihara placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Daughter," he nodded at her. "To what do we owe this honor? Shouldn't you be in class? Or packing?"

"Classes are over for the day, and I can pack in five minutes. Would you two please sit down?"

With a worried glance at each other, the two men seated themselves across from her. "What's up, Kotoko?" her father asked. "Is it Iri-chan? He hasn't had a relapse?!"

"No, no!" She waved her hands in denial.

Kinnosuke half stood. "Then have you finally come to your senses and decided to leave That Bastard Irie?" Mr. Aihara tugged him back to the bench.

Kotoko stared at him. "Satomi was right. You _can_ hear the capital letters."

"Wh-what?" Kinnosuke and Mr. Aihara looked from her to each other in confusion.

"At any rate," Kotoko set herself back on task, "I have come to lay down some orders."

"Now, you listen here, young lady," her father began to bluster. "This is _my_ restaurant and although you are my beloved daughter, I am the only one who gives the orders around here. Besides, if you took over, we'd be driven into bankruptcy in three months!"

"Not to mention all the people you'd put in the hospital with your cooking!" Kinnosuke added.

Odawara rolled his eyes as he set down Kotoko's drink while her father chided Kinnosuke for the comment. "That's my daughter you're speaking of! I can say that, but you can't!"

Kotoko took a sip of water ( _so Odawara was right about the yelling_ , she thought) then banged her hand on the table. "Gentlemen!" When they faced her again, she added, " _If_ you would let me continue. Otosan, I know that you have adjusted recipes for your and Otosan-Irie's health. But I also know there are many foods on the menu here that you cannot change."

"Right," her father nodded.

"Some of them are Otosan-Irie's favorites. In a few days he will be back at work for just a few hours each day. With all that free time, I have a feeling that he might drop by here for awhile before going home. He has been getting antsy already from Okaasan's undivided attention."

"Well," Mr. Aihara grinned, hand rubbing the back of his neck, "the Missus _does_ seem to go overboard. I'm surprised she hasn't ordered herself a nurse's costume for when she takes care of him."

Kotoko snorted. "Don't give her any ideas!" She sobered quickly. "If, no _when_ , he shows up, make sure that you only give him food made by the 'healthy recipes'. We don't want him back in the hospital."

"But he looks so well," her father argued. "He does three kilometers on the treadmill every day, and I haven't seen him this skinny since junior high!"

Kinnosuke's eyes widened. "Mr. Irie, _skinny_? I'd like to see that!"

"He's not skinny," Kotoko began to explain, "but he doesn't need to stray off the path he's on. I know your friendship goes back decades, Otosan, but you must be firm!" She pounded the table with her fist once more. "Do not allow him to talk you into cooking something that could harm him."

"Even just one dish?" her father wheedled.

"No!" Kotoko was adamant. She turned to Kinnosuke. "I'm depending on you to keep Otosan to his word. And Kin-chan, make sure that Otosan doesn't sneak any sake at the restaurant. Tie him to a chair if you must. Naoki said that he has to be careful or he'll have a serious liver."

Her father scratched his head. "I don't think that's the word…"

"Kin-chan!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The young man leaped to his feet and saluted her as if greeting a general. "I'll do it!"

* * *

"Traitor!" Mr. Aihara accused after his daughter left the restaurant.

"But Boss, when she looks at me like that, I just can't tell her 'No'!" Kinnosuke appeared as if he had been nipping the sake himself, so drunk was he on being the center of Kotoko's attention for several minutes.

Her father shook his head. "Then thank goodness it's Naoki she married. That boy can keep her out of trouble!"

Odawara snickered as he wiped the table. "Someone sure needs to!"

Kinnosuke sighed. "I still wish she'd chosen me. You don't think…?"

"No, son," Mr. Aihara rubbed his hand over the young man's close-fitting chef's hat. "When are you going to accept that?"

"I thought I had given up after I woke up in the hospital. I really did! Then when my memories came back, I was so angry at what he'd done with her…"

"No need for details," Mr. Aihara assured him quickly.

Kinnosuke stood up with determination. "This time I'll do it! I'm giving up on Kotoko!"

"It woulda make more sense to have done that when she first got married," Odawara muttered to Mr. Aihara.

* * *

" _Take that! And that!_ " Yuuki muttered, eyes on his handheld game and fingers flying.

"Do you plan to play that all during the trip?" Kotoko inquired. "I know I'm not as smart as you, but at least I know that there's a big time difference between California and Japan."

"Considering that Mom woke me up every time she called you on your honeymoon, I'm definitely aware of that!" Yuuki scoffed.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Kotoko apologized with a grimace.

"It wasn't your fault—this time! _What do you mean, hitting me from behind?_ Damn it, Kotoko, you distracted— _Way to go with protecting me, Non-chan! Nice shot!"_

"Non-chan? You're playing with Nobuhiro-kun?!" At Yuuki's nod, she pounded a fist into his upper arm. "And who said friendships couldn't be forced—uh, gently encouraged?"

"Gentle?!" he snorted. "Well...no need to rub it in, Baka! He's an okay guy, despite his unhealthy obsession with you!"

"It's not really me," she argued, "it's more Kotorin he's in love with."

"I think he's a little confused between the two of you— _Charizard! Fire Blitz!_ "

Kotoko turned to Dylan. "See what it's been like the past few weeks? We can't get a decent conversation from him."

"Come on!" Yuuki disagreed, continuing his previous thought. "The lovesick fool let you give him a complete mani-pedi while we were studying!"

"Don't forget the facial," Kotoko reminded him.

"Aargh! Do you know what I had to give him as a going-home present?" he asked. "Fingernail polish remover! How is that any sort of a gift for a man?"

On the other side of Kotoko, Dylan failed to stifle a laugh.

"But look at it this way," Kotoko pointed out. "Now that you've been visiting Nobuhiro-kun and playing online games with him, he has a larger circle of friends."

"That's right," he answered, slightly subdued as his eyes returned to his screen. "Well, this is our last game for a few days, but he can play with the group while I'm gone, so he won't be bored. Besides," he smirked, "I got him started on Fire Emblem: Awakening. That ought to keep him busy!"

"At least until the next edition of _my game_ comes out," Kotoko responded absently as she searched in her large carry-on purse.

"Oh, get over yourself. It's not as if you have anything to do with the game quality. _C'mon, c'mon, keep it up—Wombo Combo! And that's all she wrote!_ " He removed the single earbud and turned to his seatmate. "Non-chan has it so bad that even after I told him all the dumb stunts you've pulled, nothing changed."

Dylan yawned. "Maybe he's more mature than you then, Yuuki-kun. Appreciating Kotoko-chan's less obvious qualities."

"Hah! What would those be?"

"I'm interested to know what you think those are too," Kotoko commented, pausing mid-hunt with her arm elbow-deep in her bag.

He straightened. "Kind. Cheerful. Optimistic. Happy. Hopeful. Hard worker. Loving. Caring". He tweaked her nose. "Imaginative."

"Imagination is a quality?" Yuuki sounded skeptical.

"Yep. From what I've been told, she 'imagined' that your brother loved her until he finally did."

"'Deluded herself' is more like it," Yuuki muttered, but Dylan took no heed.

"I just wish that I had that strong of imagination," he sighed.

"Now, Dylan!" Kotoko began patting his hand. "There's someone out there for you. You just haven't met him yet!"

"Thanks, darling." He smiled at her then looked at her other hand. "Did you finally find what you were looking for?"

"What are you doing with Onii-chan's tablet?" Yuuki demanded.

"It's mine!" She rounded on him. "Seriously, Yuuki, and you think you're so smart! Can you see Naoki covering his with a turquoise case?"

"You've got me there." Yuuki glanced at it. "So, are you planning to play games too?"

"No," she said, "I'm going to check my latest financial report from Tana-chan."

"Tana-chan? Is that another one of your anime nerds?"

"Oi!" Kotoko Gibbs-smacked the boy. "Stop dissing my nerds! It's thanks to them that you'll have a company to run when you grow up!"

"Pretty full of yourself, aren't you?" he responded, rubbing the back of his head, then leaned over the armrest. "Hey, Baka, I think there are a few extra zeros on those numbers. You probably need to find another financial planner."

"No, Tana-chan's doing just fine," Kotoko answered absently. "And the numbers look right to me."

"Wait!" He straightened up, abandoning his game console as he snatched the tablet from her. "Where did you get this kind of money?!"

"From investments!" Kotoko grabbed the tablet back only to have Dylan take it from her.

"Pretty nice," he commented as he scrolled through.

"Dylan-san!" Yuuki roared as loudly as he dared in the airplane. "How much are we paying Kotoko?!"

"Well," he handed the tablet to a fuming Kotoko, "her 'anime nerds', as you referred to them, encouraged her to ask for a percentage of the profits and licensing fees. Unfortunately for Pandai, the company made two errors."

"What were they?" asked Yuuki.

"They didn't want to refuse the future wife of Pandai's successor—as they believed at that time—plus they failed to predict the enormous popularity of the character and her products." He shrugged. " _That_ took most of the company by surprise."

"How much percentage did they give her?" Yuuki demanded. "Did you look at those figures?"

Dylan raised his eyebrows. "It appears that she has a more than competent financial planner. Remember, Racquet Warrior has been out for a year and a half and Kotoko doesn't have many living expenses. She could have easily given most of her income to be invested. Even so, that's a great rate of return. What firm are you using, darling?"

"Oh, it's Tanaka-kun's sister. She's not with any firm."

"An independent consultant, eh?"

"Yes, she's pretty independent for someone in middle school."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Kotoko looked back and forth between them. "The family likes to play with money. It was Tanaka-kun who acted as my agent with Pandai when the game was first put out."

"Damn! Now I'm definitely going to steal him from R&D," muttered Dylan.

"Middle school," Yuuki muttered. " _Middle school?!_ "

"That's right." Kotoko elbowed him. "You want me to hook you up with her?"

"What are you saying, Baka?!" he howled.

"So she can invest your allowance," Kotoko answered blankly. "What did you think I meant?"

* * *

A/N: Thanks to Darian (AKA "Sequel") for the videogame terminology.


	12. Chapter 12

"How many are on the list now, Mama?" Mr. Irie asked his wife.

"We have your department heads, all of your doctors, the nursing staff and nursing students, Kotoko's two friends… Are we missing anybody?"

"Can we fit all of them in this house?" he asked, but as usual she was not listening.

"We should invite that young boy that Yuuki visited, now that he has been released as well. And I suppose," she chewed on the end of her pen, "if we invite one of Yuuki's friends then we ought to invite someone for Naoki. But is anyone friends with that cold grump?"

"Hmph!" His father pondered a moment, brow furrowed. "How about some of his medical school classmates? I noticed one that was always at his elbow when they came in my room. He looks like someone that Kotoko-chan should do a makeover on."

"Oh!" Mrs. Irie's eyes lit up. "I know the one! He may not be all right in the head—I overheard him asking Onii-chan about his 'sister'. But I'll include him anyway; I'll have to find out his name…"

"Dear," her husband began hesitantly, "did it seem to you in the hospital as if the medical staff thought Kotoko was our _real_ daughter?"

"Don't be silly," Mrs. Irie laughed. "We call her our daughter—just like all the other families in Japan do! Maybe they got that idea because it's obvious that we love her so much."

"Even so, you don't think there has been a misunderstanding of some sort…?"

"Nonsense! How could there be with all those posters I put up at the college over the years?"

"Ah, I suppose you're correct."

"Iri-chan! Missus! Good morning!" Mr. Aihara entered the kitchen, having arisen late from his work the previous night.

"Greeting, Ai-chan!"

"Can I get you anything to eat?" Mrs. Irie half rose from the table.

"No, no!" he refused. "Just a glass of juice will do for right now." He poured one and then walked over to the table. "What has you so involved?"

"Mama and I—"

"We are planning a marvelous 'Welcome Back to Good Health' party for Papa!" Mrs. Irie interrupted. "We want to use it to thank all those who supported us during that time."

Mr. Aihara picked up the list. "Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for. When is it?"

"Not quite sure," Mrs. Irie told him. "Of course we'll have to wait until Kotoko-chan and Yuuki-kun return from their trip, but we want to get started on planning the guest list, at least."

"Say!" He snapped his fingers. "Why don't you have it at the restaurant? I'll just close that evening for everyone except your guests."

"Oh, but we want you to be part of the celebration also!" she demurred. "Not having to take care of the serving and refreshments."

"Nonsense!" he laughed. "Why else do I have a staff of employees? Since they're trained by me," he boasted, "they can certainly handle this without me cracking the whip in the kitchen!"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Ai-chan," Mr. Irie said. "I think Mama's guest list has already exceeded our home's space."

Sure enough, Mrs. Irie had bent over the paper again and was scribbling madly.

The two men sighed together. "Just let me know the date, Iri-chan, and consider it done."

* * *

"What I wouldn't give for a lounge chair on a tropical beach right now," Dylan sighed as he closed his eyes after takeoff.

"Me too," Kotoko agreed.

"With a hot studly waiter in swim trunks delivering my drinks."

"Mmm. I'd go for that as well."

"Kotoko! You're married!" squawked Yuuki.

"Married, yes. Blind, no," she pointed out, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.

"She can window-shop but just can't touch the merchandise," offered Dylan tiredly.

"You've got it!" Kotoko waved a wobbly forefinger in the air to indicate agreement.

 _Man!_ Yuuki pressed back against the seat. Grownups were so weak. And so prone to exhaustion. Sure, they had packed a lot into the past few days, but he was still going strong. He took out his game console. _Maybe I'll see if any of my friends happen to be up. Let them know we're on the way home._

* * *

Mrs. Irie was over the moon to have her family gathered together once more. Since she was in such a good mood, she was even able to greet Dylan with enthusiasm instead of merely toleration; his treatment was sometimes worse if she had been reminded recently of his assistance in her son's marriage.

"Kotoko-chan! I saw the picture you emailed me! Did you and Yuuki really attend a movie premiere?"

"No, Okaasan," she answered. "It was a special introduction of a new video game which featured some big name celebrities."

"By invitation only," Dylan interspersed. "They fancied it up with red carpet and paparazzi."

"Dylan-san arranged for Yuuki-kun's tuxedo and my dress at the last minute."

"Oh, Kotoko-chan, you looked so sophisticated!" Mrs. Irie gushed. "Just like a movie star yourself."

"Hey, speaking of movie stars," Yuuki interrupted. "Dad, you've got to replace the English voice actress for Racquet Warrior."

"I do?" His father looked puzzled. Dylan and Kotoko began to giggle.

"Yeah. She's whacked-out crazy or something."

"Why do you think that?" Mr. Irie asked.

"When I was introduced to her at the convention, she began shouting profanities and pointing her finger at me."

"Really?" Mrs. Irie inquired, taken aback.

"Yes, and Dylan-san wouldn't translate the words I didn't know," he complained. "Then she started yelling 'I **_am_** Racquet Warrior Kotorin!' until security took her out. The rest of the trip those two idiots," he indicated Dylan and Kotoko, "for some reason, would shout that out at awkward times and break down in laughter." He scowled. "Don't know _what_ they thought they were doing."

Kotoko managed to control her levity long enough to jump up, arm stretched above her head, and call, "I am Racquet Warrior Kotorin!"

As she collapsed back onto the couch, Naoki pulled her to his side and said, "Settle down, Racquet Warrior. I see that Tanaka-san's wish for revenge was fulfilled. Video?"

"Of course," she answered smugly. "Don't you check my YouTube feed? Mine is the only video posted that was recorded from the very beginning of her tor- tid-"

"Tirade?" At her nod, Naoki shrugged. "Crazy publicity is still publicity."

Using that as his cue, Dylan segued the conversation to another event. "Speaking of publicity, Entertainment Weekly took note of Kotoko's popularity at the two conventions we've attended. They asked to do an article and arranged a photo shoot, but because another story fell through, she's actually ending up on the cover." He waited for the exclamations to die down. "The magazine should be out in three days."

"Oh!" Mrs. Irie clapped her hands. "That's the day after Papa's party!"

"You already set it up?" Kotoko looked at her in surprise. "I thought it would take more time for the planning, decorating and cooking."

Mr. Irie chuckled. "Ai-chan caught us in the middle of the guest list and told us to leave it all to him and his staff. We'll have the entire restaurant to ourselves."

"Great!" Yuuki commented. "At least we can be sure that baka Kotoko doesn't help with the food. Ack!" he cried as she lobbed a pillow at his head.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to go with me, Yuuki-kun?" Kotoko asked the boy, who was lounging on his bed with a magazine.

"Nah", he replied. "I'll see Non-chan soon enough at the party, plus I'd just upchuck having to watch him make goo-goo eyes at you. You can give him the game I picked up for him, though." He sat up and handed her a bag.

"Okay, Yuuki-kun. I'm going to try to talk some sense into him again, so I'll probably need privacy anyway."

"As if!" he snorted after the door closed behind her. "A baka talking sense?"

* * *

The butler bowed as he left Kotoko in what he had referred to as "The Sun Room". She looked around wide-eyed before Nobuhiro called out, "Kotor—Kotoko-san!" and walked from a wicker chair overlooking a meticulously landscaped yard, including spa and swimming pool.

"Goodness, Nobuhiro-kun, your home is ginormous!" was the first thing out of her mouth. "Oops!" she giggled. "I guess I'm not supposed to say things like that!"

"It's okay," he answered, his expression excited. "I can't believe you came to my house to visit me!"

"How else would I be able to do it, since you've been released from the hospital?" she chided gently as they sat down on the couch. "Oh!" Kotoko recollected herself and burrowed into a large shopping bag. "Here's a video game that Yuuki-kun sent."

"Oh. That was nice." He opened it up and widened his eyes. "I haven't played this iteration yet."

"Itter-what?" she asked. "Never mind! That's probably a word I'd never use anyway." She pulled out a cardboard tube. "I picked up all the freebies in the dealers' room and got autographs on as many posters as I could." She produced another bag. "These are all of the sample games, including some that weren't given to the general public." She watched anxiously as he shuffled through them. "I don't know if they're to your taste…"

Nobuhiro laughed as he tossed a couple onto the table in front of them. "No thanks on these," he said. "I'm really not interested in playing dating sims."

"I didn't think so," she replied as she leaned forward to retrieve the rejects. "My friends and I are too old for them, so I'll just hold onto them in case Yuuki-kun brings home a female friend. Notice that I didn't say 'girlfriend'; I don't think he's mature enough for _that_ yet."

"Don't be so sure, Kotoko-san." Nobuhiro placed a hand on hers. "I'm the same age as he is and _I'm_ ready."

Kotoko froze then took a deep breath. "Nobuhiro-kun, I—"

"No!" he cried, half-shouting, "I know what I feel! And I may never grow up to be an adult." He embraced her clumsily then let his head fall on her shoulders, tears wetting her sleeve.

She put her arms around him and patted his back gently until his sobs eased. Kotoko moved away slightly. "Nobuhiro-kun, how are you doing? _Really_?"

"Pretty well," he shrugged, sniffing. "I just have to go in for monitoring every few days, unless I really start to feel ill. But the medication will only help me so far."

"How about a transpo- transf- you know—get a new one!"

"Transplant?" He shrugged. "I have a rare blood type, so the outlook doesn't look good."

"Well, you just hang in there!" Kotoko ordered. "If you are still sick by the time Naoki becomes a doctor, I'll tell him to find a cure for you!"

Smile dimming slightly at the mention of her husband, he chuckled, "I don't think that's how it works, but thanks for the thought." He took a deep breath. "So can you understand my concern that I will never be able to have someone fall in love with me?"

"Because of your condition?" At his nod, Kotoko gave him a small shove. "You're pretty cute and fairly lovable—when you're not acting like that knothead Yuuki. Any girl would be extremely lucky to have you love her."

"But not you?"

Kotoko took hold of one of his arms and ran her hand gently over the IV scars that had resulted from his treatments. Then she clasped his shoulders and spoke intently, "Nobuhiro-kun, even if I returned your feelings, there is no way that a twenty-year-old could be with a twelve-year-old in a romantic way."

He began to protest but she cut him off. Cupping his cheeks with her hands, she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

"You are only the second person in the world to have their first kiss from Kotorin and," and she placed a finger on his lips, "that was a 'magic kiss'." She winked at him. "Come check me out when _you're_ twenty _and_ in good health (see, I believe in my own magic!) and find out if you still feel the same."

"I'm sure I will!" he averred.

Kotoko laughed. "It would probably do my husband good to get jealous. By then he may be taking me for granted!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This conclusion chapter is monstrously long, but I didn't want to break up the action, since most of it takes place at one location.**

* * *

Kotoko found herself muttering curses in both Japanese and English—plus a smattering of Klingon that she had inadvertently picked up from Aoki and the others. She fumed as she hurried across a pretty much deserted campus. "That stupid professor promised he would be in his office today. Even made an appointment for me to turn in my portfolio! So why would he go out drinking until two a.m. and not wake up until mid-afternoon?! Two and a half hours I waited for him! And tonight is Otosan-Irie's party!"

She paused in her grumbles as a glint of gold flashed in the corner of her eye. Closer observation revealed a brilliantly blonde female making a horrid attempt to be understood in Japanese. Two cornered students were shaking their heads in perplexity while trying to bow out politely from the conversation. Kotoko sighed, glanced at her watch in exasperation, then sighed again as she changed course and headed toward the small group.

"May I help you?" she asked politely in English. The girl spun to face her, and the others took that as a cue to flee.

"Oh! Maybe so! But I came to Japan to speak the language, desu!" she demurred.

"How long have you been here?" Kotoko asked.

"Let's see… um, two days ago!" She pronounced the Japanese words semi-correctly.

Kotoko winced. "Maybe you can practice later. Are you from America?"

"Ah! No, no!" the stranger denied vehemently. "I am from England." She tilted her head at Kotoko. "You speak English pretty well. Too bad you have an American accent."

"You're lucky I can speak it at all," Kotoko muttered. "Is there someone you are looking for?"

"My true love!" she replied, hands clasped under her chin as she looked dramatically at the cloudless sky.

Kotoko's eyes widened and she took a step back. "O-o-okay then."

"No, no," she explained. "Daddy tried to set up an engagement for me with a boring man who is totally unattractive. I've always loved the beauty of Japan and its people, so I moved here to find the man of my dreams!"

"Wow, that's really…extreme," Kotoko ventured. _I'd better make sure she knows Naoki's not available, since he's the best looking man on campus, if not Tokyo._

Meanwhile, the blonde girl had continued talking. "Mama supported me so I escaped with no one the wiser. I arrived early and came to learn the campus before school started."

"That was a good idea," Kotoko agreed, sneaking another peek at her watch.

The girl noticed the motion. "Oh! I am keeping you! So sorry! It is just that I cannot find…" her voice trailed off.

"What are you looking for?" Kotoko asked just as the foreigner's stomach let out an enormous growl. Kotoko looked at her with respect. "I see. You need food."

"Yes! Yes! But I don't want Western food!" she wailed. "Everyone is trying to tell me to go to McDonald's or American family restaurants. I'm in Japan. I want authentic Japanese food, desu!"

Kotoko grinned suddenly. "Well, you're out of luck with true love, but I _can_ help you with food! If you don't mind a room full of people!"

"What do you mean?" She looked at her in confusion. "The restaurant is busy?"

"Absolutely! But come!" She tugged the girl's hand. "I'm late! _We're_ late!"

"Late?" she asked as she was dragged along at great speed. "Why do I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole?"

"Alice? Is that your name?"

By the time Kotoko and Christine Robbins boarded the train, they had exchanged their (correct!) names and brief biographies. Chris was horrified that she would be crashing a private party, but Kotoko assured her again and again that it would make no difference. "Plus you'll get to meet lots of people—some of them fellow students—and practice your Japanese."

* * *

"Where is that girl?" Mrs. Irie fretted to Mr. Aihara, who was busy filling cups and glasses with sake and beer at the restaurant table designated as the "bar".

"Don't worry too much, Missus," he assured her. "Kotoko wouldn't miss this party. You know that!"

"But she won't answer her phone!" she grumbled, fussing with her camera settings before taking a quick shot. "It goes straight to voice mail every time!"

"She's probably just stuck in a dead zone," Naoki approached behind her. "Plus, it's possible that she forgot to charge it last night. I don't remember seeing it on the desk when I got up this morning."

"Oh no!" His mother clapped both hands to her cheeks. "She could be in danger, injured, even kidnapped!"

"Ever the drama queen, aren't you, Ma?" he asked.

"But look at this failure of a party!" She indicated the restaurant interior. "No one is mingling with each other. They're just stuck in their own groups!"

Naoki glanced about. Sure enough, it was as if the restaurant was the location for several unrelated events. The Pandai executives encircled his father and most likely were talking business. The physicians were also in a clump, discussing medical issues in general and his father's health in particular, he assumed. Funatsu (and what inspired his mother to invite that annoying wet blanket?) hovered between the medical group and the nursing students. Various other individuals who did not fit into those categories either watched from the side or huddled together making obviously awkward conversation. But wait—"Look over there. Kotoko's friends are leaving Dylan-san and are about to join the fan clu—uh, nursing students."

"Bless their hearts!" Mrs. Irie let out a heartfelt cry of joy. "They're almost as sweet as my Kotoko-chan!"

"The atmosphere would probably lighten up more if the food got out here," Mr. Aihara muttered. "What is taking those idiots so long!"

Sensing that his father-in-law was chomping at the bit to run to the kitchen, Naoki placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't I check for you, sir? I know my parents want you out here in the middle of everything, but you can't enjoy it if you're worried about the food."

"Thanks, Naoki-kun." He narrowed his eyes. "They'd better not be screwing around back there!"

Over at the corner table, with the best view of the entire restaurant, Yuuki and Nobuhiro sat and played video games half-heartedly.

"The group of old fat men are the executives from Pandai," Yuuki told his friend. "At least the doctors from the hospital look healthy!"

"Yeah, I recognize them, but who are those two pretty girls heading this way?"

"Pretty? Kotoko's dumb friends?" Yuuki chortled. "The nurses are a heck of a lot better looking, don't you think? Well, maybe except for the tall one."

"I don't know. I prefer Kotoko-san's looks…"

"Why does every conversation come back around to her? Oh look, those bakas are going to try to talk to the nurses," Yuuki commented.

"What's wrong with that?" Nobuhiro inquired.

Yuuki chuckled evilly. "I just don't know what those two would have in common with people who actually, you know, use their brains. And don't kick me for that—I didn't say anything about Kotoko being a baka, now did I?"

"Implication, my good man, implication." Nobuhiro shook an index finger at him.

"So tonight's the night, eh?" Motoki teased Keita.

"What's that about?" asked Marina.

"Since Mr. Irie is officially no longer a patient, Keita here is going to confess to his daughter!"

Keita, face flushed, shrugged Motoki's arm away. "Don't be saying that so loud. Someone might hear…"

As if on cue, Kotoko's friends joined the group. "It's nice to see you again," Satomi greeted them. "Are you enjoying yourselves?"

"Ah! It's—uh—Irie-chan's friends, right?" Motoki answered. "Have you met the others?" She quickly made introductions, including Funatsu since he had shifted back over to their group at this time.

"Where do you think Irie-san went?" Marina asked. "He hardly spoke with us at all before going to stand with his mother and that other man."

"Aihara-san?" Satomi asked. "He's the owner of the restaurant and also lives with them."

"Say!" Motoki's eyes widened. "She wouldn't be having an affair right in front of her husband, now would she?"

Satomi and Jinko began laughing, Satomi so hard that she lost her breath. "Not a bit of it!" Satomi gasped out eventually. "They were great school friends back in the day."

"Yeah," Jinko added. "And when an earthquake destroyed the Aiharas' home, they invited the family to live with them."

"How nice!" Tomoko breathed. "No wonder Irie-san has such a princely air!"

When Jinko and Satomi's eyes met at that description of Naoki they burst into another round of laughter.

"Say," Funatsu asked Jinko. "Do you know when Irie-chan is supposed to arrive?"

"Not a clue," she replied tersely. "She was meeting a professor to turn in some project. Knowing her, she got distracted, but she'll get here eventually."

"You're really not worried about her?" Keita asked Satomi softly, drawing her attention to his concerned expression. "She's kind of—flaky at times. I'd hate for her to be in some sort of trouble."

She looked him up and down. "She may be little, but she's tough. Her stubbornness brings her through whatever problems her flakiness gets her into."

The Pandai executives were congratulating Mr. Irie on his weight loss. "Fifteen kilos! That's hard to believe!" Sagawa of Accounting exclaimed.

"It looks good on you. Is that a new tie?" asked Suzuki, Mr. Irie's executive assistant.

"It's an entirely new suit! Mama made me go shopping with her. She said that she was not going to have me go out in public looking like I was wearing cast-off clothing!"

The men laughed heartily at his witticism.

"You know, you're giving me the heebie-jeebies," Jinko suddenly spoke. She backed away from Funatsu and grabbed Satomi's arm to pull her away from the group. "That guy is weird! He was asking all kinds of questions about Kotoko. You'd think he had a crush on her or something."

"No," Satomi contradicted her. "I think it's the other one in the group who has the crush on her. And can you believe the lecherous eyes the girls were casting on Irie-kun? What is the world coming to?"

"I know! And with the prepubescent wonder over in the corner with Yuuki-kun, this night could end in a melee!"

"Was it difficult to lose all that weight, Irie-sensei?" queried Pandai's Murakami from Research and Development.

"Well, it wasn't easy, I'll tell you," Mr. Irie chuckled in response, patting his still large waistline. "And I don't recommend waiting for an emergency to kick-start it!" He eyed his employees. "I'm thinking of implementing bonuses for those who sign up for a healthy lifestyle routine!"

The men looked furtively at each other, wondering to whom their boss was referring. "Are you sure that would be wise, Irie-sama?" asked Sagawa. "We don't want to overextend the company's resources."

"Nonsense!" Dylan joined the group and clapped a hand on Mr. Irie's shoulder. "Pandai is performing extremely well and our leader wants to keep its employees in the same condition. He knows that a healthy body will aid in strengthening the mind." He turned as he heard a familiar ruckus. "I do believe the star of Pandai's leading product has arrived."

Sure enough, Kotoko burst through the entrance, Chris in tow. After she called out greetings to all the parents, she introduced her best friends to her new pal, and Mrs. Irie's much awaited "mingling" finally began. Members of most of the previously separate groups lost no time in angling for an introduction to the blonde stranger in their midst.

An exception to the excitement was the huddle of student nurses. "What is Irie-chan doing, bringing in more competition?" complained Marina.

"And an exotic foreigner at that!" Motoki added. "It's bad enough that those two friends of hers are here, but this is too much."

"Hey, Tomoko, did she call the owner of the place 'Otosan' also? Tomoko?" Marina looked around for her classmate.

"Where did she go?" Neither Marina nor Motoki could spot her. Keita and Funatsu were no help, having deserted them for the new arrivals, but _their_ target was Kotoko.

Just then Naoki and Kinnosuke emerged from the kitchen, each carrying two large platters of food. Chris broke off her halting conversation with Suzuki and grabbed Kotoko's arm. "Who's _that_?"

Kotoko glanced over. "My husband!" She waved wildly in his direction, and both men nodded at her, their hands full of food. Since she immediately turned back to her three-way conversation with Keita and Funatsu, she didn't see Chris's face fall dramatically.

"Remember, Irie," Kinnosuke reminded him, "the food on the black trays were made with the healthy recipes."

Naoki sighed. "I'll let Mom know. We'll have to watch Dad for sure!" He scowled when he looked back in his wife's direction and noticed her companions. "Funatsu again! And that nurse who was always lingering in Dad's room and that Mom swore was—!" He shook his head. "Why can't my wife be NOT nice for once?"

"Kotoko? She's always nice, Irie. Way too nice for you—but that's none of my business now! I've given up on her. This time for real!"

"About damn time is all I've got to say," Naoki murmured.

The door opened again to reveal Kato, Aoki and Tanaka. Being on the low end of the totem pole as far as employees go, Aoki and Tanaka appeared a little nervous with the large group of Pandai executives directly in front of them, while Kato struggled to ease a large, paper-wrapped package past the congestion. Luckily Dylan noticed them right away and approached.

"Well met, gentlemen!" He offered them a bow each. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked Kato, who grinned and nodded. "Let me take it off your hands, then. I wouldn't want it to get damaged, considering how much we had to pay for it." Dylan stashed it in a corner, away from all the action. "It's a bit of a melting pot of guests, but make yourselves at home. I know that the welcome greeting would normally be given by your hostess, but she's busy right now berating her younger son for something." He jerked his head to the other side of the restaurant. "However, what you're probably looking for is this way." He indicated Mr. Aihara and the alcohol.

"How did you guess?" asked Tanaka with a grin.

"Say," Dylan laid a hand on his shoulder, "I have some money that I'd like to multiply. Could I talk with you later about the possibility of meeting your little sister?"

"Kotoko," Chris whispered, "are all Japanese men this friendly?"

"No," she shook her head, "normally they are more retiring and distant." Recalling her husband's high school days, she chuckled." Sometimes even cold. "She patted her new acquaintance's arm. "They must not see a foreigner as pretty as you that often. Enjoy the popularity!"

Chris blinked at that comment. Apparently Kotoko was oblivious to the shoving by-play going on between Keita and Funatsu for the seat on the other side of her. She thought it was unusual since her friend was clearly happily married—and to such a dreamboat! She sighed deeply, and one of the doctors elbowed a Pandai executive out of the way to ask after her health.

Meanwhile, in the elementary school corner… "I'm so ashamed of your manners! Filling up your plate before the others have a chance!" Mrs. Irie snapped quick shots of the room between sentences.

"But Mom!" Yuuki protested. "They're too busy with Kotoko's friend and the booze. Why should we wait for them to settle down?"

"But we are hosting the event," she fretted.

"It's not as if Aihara-san is going to only serve us what's out there now. I know there will be more food coming anyway. See, here comes Kin-baka with more. Why don't you take a picture of _that_?!"

Sure enough, Kinnosuke had stepped quickly out of the kitchen with a fresh platter and an aggravated expression on his face. "Boss!" he howled above the various conversations.

"Yes, Kinnosuke?" Mr. Aihara craned his neck to see above the people lined up for alcohol refills.

"You've got to get her outta there!"

"What's going on?"

"One of the guests—some _female_!—is in the kitchen using my personal knives!"

"What the—?" He pushed his way through the crowd. "Has she injured herself?"

"No, she's doing a great job slicing up the meat I'm about to grill, but Boss," his voice turned pleading, "I spent half a paycheck on those knives!"

"Oopsie," Motoki covered her mouth. "I think we've discovered where Tomoko disappeared to."

"Kotoko! Kotoko!" Chris hissed in her ear. "I thought you said your husband's name was Naoki."

"It is," she said, looking at her in confusion.

"Then who is _that_?!" Kotoko followed the direction of Chris's pointing finger.

"Him? That's my high school friend, Kin-chan. He's my father's apprentice chef here in the restaurant."

"Oh, Kotoko!" She engulfed her in an enthusiastic hug. "You have fulfilled _both_ my dreams, desu!"

"Huh?" Noticing a movement on her other side, Kotoko turned. "What's the matter, Keita-san?" The young man (who had won the tussle with Funatsu for the seat nearest her) had placed a hand over his eyes.

"Uh, Tomoko-san has this…fetish for cutting things." As Kotoko continued to look at him quizzically, he struggled to explain. "She thought that nurses could use scalpels, and her disappointment when she was told the truth was otherwise—well, it wasn't pretty." He pushed the chair back. "I'd better go help roust her out of the back."

"The things you learn about people," Kotoko mused, then jumped as her companion changed. "Oh! Hello again, Futanshu-san."

"Funatsu, Irie-chan," he corrected her, but her attention had only touched on him for a few seconds.

"Well, if Tomoko-san likes to cut meat, then maybe I could play Cupid and match her up with Kin-chan," she mused out loud.

"No, Kotoko, no!" Chris shouted. "He is mine! You cannot give him away to another woman!"

"What?" Kotoko and several surrounding people stared at the young Englishwoman, who then stood and rushed behind the counter to embrace the unsuspecting Kinnosuke from behind.

"Do you feel my true love flowing to you?" she cried. "I traveled around the world to find you, my dearest Kin-chan-san!"

Wild-eyed, Kinnosuke tried to untangle himself. "Baka foreigner! What are you doing? Kotoko, get your friend off me!"

Watching the proceedings, Yuuki half-choked as laughter interfered with swallowing. "I wish I could sell tickets to this!" he told Nobuhiro as the drama continued with Kotoko acting as translator since Kinnosuke could not understand Chris's heavily accented Japanese and she could not understand his Kansai dialect.

"Why isn't your brother helping her?" Nobuhiro asked. "From what you've told me, his language skills are much better than hers."

Yuuki snorted. "Is she _asking_ for help? Kotoko's pretty independent. Extremely independent," he added, thinking of her investment portfolio. "I'm surprised you haven't jumped up to help her, since you're so concerned. Now's a great opportunity, since she's shaken off the two leeches that attached themselves to her earlier."

"No, I'm not going to bother with direct competition at this time."

"Really? Why? Did she finally make you come to your senses yesterday?"

"I have patience and confidence." He sat back with a self-satisfied grin. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm going to be marrying your amazing sister-in-law once I grow up. We've already kissed and everything!"

"Oh my God, that's disgusting!" Yuuki was about to add a few more insults when he noticed that Nobuhiro had emptied his glass. "Just a second." He scrambled out of his seat and circled around his parents—Mr. Irie being berated by Mrs. Irie for having forbidden food on his plate—and went behind the bar. He returned with a carafe of water and refilled Nobuhiro's glass.

"Really?" Nobuhiro cocked an eyebrow at him. "You just make yourself right at home here?"

Yuuki shrugged. "One of the few advantages to being in-laws with Baka-Head. Ow! Sorry!"

"Listen to Kotoko talk in English!" Jinko marveled, elbow on the table, chin resting on her hand.

"Well, she did take that advanced course, didn't she? Plus having extra tutors," Satomi reminded her. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" She grabbed hold of Funatsu's arm and tugged him back into his chair.

"But I—" he waved a hand toward Kotoko.

Satomi shook her head. "She's fine. Keep us company."

"Good job, Satomi," Jinko whispered. "He'd be all over her otherwise."

"Yeah, but what if he changes targets and gets all over me?!" she hissed back.

"In that case, I'm glad that you're the one who grabbed him!"

Naoki joined the anime trio as they enjoyed the unintentional comedy show put on by Kotoko and her friends.

"Why in the _world_ is the man repulsing her?" asked Kato in wonder.

"She's gorgeous," agreed Tanaka, "in a shiny, Western sort of way."

"Well, there _is_ the language barrier," pointed out Aoki.

Naoki chuckled. "It's amazing how they manage to understand each other. Kotoko has about a 70% grasp of English and her friend has about a 60% grasp of Japanese. Of course," he nodded at Kato, "Kotoko's ratio is that high thanks to you."

Once the errant nurse was retrieved and Kinnosuke managed to slip out of Chris's grasp and flee to the kitchen, the restaurant settled down a bit. Mr. Aihara, wiping perspiration off his brow, thanked Dylan who had stepped in as bartender while he handled the crisis.

Dylan then moved to the entrance podium and rang a bell. "May I have everyone's attention?!" The last remnants of conversation and laughter ceased at his announcement. "The whole purpose of this get-together is to celebrate Mr. Irie's return to health and his job."

The crowd burst into applause. Mrs. Irie paused in her photography pursuits to stand next to her husband while her older son (under her exacting instructions!) took a picture of them together. After everyone toasted his success, Mr. Irie took center stage to give credit to his physicians and offer appreciation to his executives for the extra work they had taken on.

"And let's not forget the loyal nursing staff!" Mrs. Irie added, indicating the group which had reconvened. Once more glasses were raised.

Mr. Irie nodded to Dylan, who retrieved the mysterious package delivered by Kato as he spoke. "I would also like to give thanks to a group who recently helped advertise our products in the overseas market. We were represented at San Diego's Comic-Con by three special people: Saeki Dylan, who recognized the potential of our Racquet Warrior line of products; Irie Kotoko, the face and embodiment of Kotorin, Racquet Warrior; and Irie Yuuki, my younger son and the one who will succeed me as head of Pandai when I finally decide to retire! Of course, now that I've been restored to health, who knows when that will be!" Everyone laughed with him, happy that he had returned to the firm's helm in buoyant spirits.

He waved to Dylan, who came to stand beside him. "And now, we have the special unveiling of a new decoration for our executive office. This was painted by an associate of the creators of the video game, Racquet Warrior Kotorin, which, as most of you know, has broken all of Pandai's sales records." Just then Dylan finished tearing the last of the paper from the package and everyone could see the painting from Kato's art exhibit. "This is a special prize for us. We fought a heated bidding war for it!"

Chris stopped craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of Kinnosuke in the back. She grabbed Kotoko and exclaimed, "Kotoko! That is you, desu! I didn't know that you were an anime star!"

Kotoko shot an apologetic smile at the beleaguered chef cowering in fear behind the kitchen curtain then turned to Chris. "It happened in a strange way…"

Yuuki snorted. "Well, if that's still hanging on the wall when I become chairman, my first task will be to take it down!"

"In that case, let me have it," Nobuhiro urged. "I was the other one bidding!"

The light scuffle which broke out between the two boys over the incident paused when a latecomer rushed noisily into the restaurant.

"Pardon me! Pardon me!" The young woman bowed at the guests, rotating in a semicircle while clasping a cardboard box to her chest.

Dylan approached her with a smile. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes, Saeki-sempai!" she bowed again. "They just arrived and I thought you would like them…"

"Absolutely!" He turned to the assembly. "May I have everyone's attention once again? I have here copies of Entertainment Weekly—still hot off the presses, almost a day before they hit the streets—with our very own Kotoko on the cover! Wait! There's enough for everyone," he laughed as several people rushed towards him.

Posed in the shallow waters of the Pacific Ocean, with the setting sun sparkling through her thin dress, Kotoko smiled and one hand reached toward the camera. The headline read: Japan's Sweetheart Sets Sights on U.S.

"Hey, Kotori-nee, they should make a poster of the cover. I bet it would sell out!" suggested Tanaka.

"How about it, Saeki-sempai?" Aoki inquired.

"Mmm." Dylan pursed his lips. "A better one would be this shot." He held the magazine open to a seated Kotoko, laughing just a moment after she had tripped and landed in the sand. "Much more approachable, with just a touch of the original sexy Farrah poster."

Kinnosuke, who had rushed back out from the kitchen for a copy, exclaimed, "Kotoko! You look great as always!" He glared around at the others. "Don't get any ideas, you perverts!"

"Shouldn't that be _my_ line?" Naoki asked, leaning against the bar thumbing through his own issue while scowling at those guests now eyeing his wife speculatively.

Satomi suddenly called out. "Kotoko! What are these pictures? Did you get into a fight?"

Mrs. Irie stopped gushing over the additional red carpet photos and scooted to her side to find the page number. As she flipped pages in her own copy she scolded her daughter-in-law. "You didn't tell me about _that_!"

"No, no!" Kotoko shook her hands in denial. "It only looks bad!"

"What happened was," Dylan began, "is that the 1-in-100 male fan who would know what to do with a 3D woman broke through security during the photo session. Unfortunately for him, our girl here laid him flat on his ass, and the photographer captured his utter humiliation."

There were "Oohs" and "Ahs" from the guests as they all located the pictures and began to look from them to the diminutive Kotoko.

"See, Kotoko-chan," Mrs. Irie exclaimed. "I told you that you needed those lessons!"

"Mom!" Yuuki protested from his table. "It wasn't judo she used!"

"Yes," Kotoko laughed deprecatingly. "We were in the middle of shooting the Kotorin poses, and I was holding the prop racquet..."

"it was more like Racquet Warrior meets Miss Congeniality," Dylan quipped. "The guy was singing soprano for the next half hour."

"Yeah, they don't teach that in our class. Man, I hurt just remembering," Yuuki muttered to Nobuhiro as he shifted in his seat.

The next few minutes were a little chaotic as Kotoko proceeded to autograph copies of the magazine with a Sharpie that her father managed to locate. Kinnosuke hovered at her shoulder, Chris hanging on one of his arms despite his attempts to shake her off. His hostile glares at Funatsu and Keita, who also remained in Kotoko's general area, were mirrored by colder stares from her husband.

"It's one thing for her to be the object of affection for a distant audience of fans, but it's a little harder to take when people I know are almost on top of her," he complained to Dylan.

"Don't tell me that you're jealous because there's also an Irie _Kotoko_ Fan Club?" he replied, tongue in cheek.

Naoki frowned. "I had a feeling you wouldn't forget about that!"

Undeterred, Dylan continued. "Let's see, in this room alone we have the nurse-to-be, the doctor-to-be, the chef-to-be and the young'un."

"Appearances aside, the chef has conceded the field to me, and according to Kotoko we can discount the last one. She swears that she finally took care of that situation. I'd feel foolish being jealous of a child!"

"Ah, but love makes fools of us all. Well, cheer up, Naoki-kun," Dylan responded. "At least consider that you yourself are the object of jealousy for being the one actually married to her!"

"Except that the most problematic ones around her—and touching her!—" he growled as one hand clenched into a fist, "believe that she's my sister!"

"You know, I think it's time for the truth to come out." Dylan took on a mischievous expression. "And I know how it can be done with the least possible effort. Don't wander off!" he warned as he made a beeline for Mrs. Irie.

After a whispered confab, Mrs. Irie broke into a bright smile and nodded vigorously. Dylan winked and sauntered over to the table where Yuuki and Nobuhiro sat. They looked up from their contest of who could make the most realistic robot from shrimp tails and skewers to greet him.

"What brings you over here, Dylan-san?" Yuuki asked.

Dylan chuckled. "I know what the Dragon Lady is planning—thanks to a little hint from me—and you guys have the best seat in the house. Mind if I join you?"

"What's Mom going to do now?" Yuuki sighed as they made room for him.

"Let's just say that excrement is about to impact an oscillating device," he replied cryptically. "Watch and enjoy."

Mrs. Irie's route throughout the restaurant ceased to be random. She wiggled her way through the guests still crowded two deep around her daughter-in-law and tugged her out. Puzzled, Kotoko followed her obediently as they approached Naoki. Mrs. Irie practically shoved her into his arms.

He looked down at her with a slightly grim expression. "Enjoying yourself, Miss Celebrity?"

"Are you mad, Naoki?" she asked, surprised. "It's just publicity like I did at the convention."

Sighing, he rolled his eyes. "Yes, but they didn't have their hands all over you then!"

With an impish grin, Kotoko asked, "Are you jealous?" When he ignored the question and looked away, she crowed, "You are! Silly!" She then planted her index fingers on both sides of his mouth and turned the ends up in a horrible caricature of a smile.

"Look at her teasing Irie-san!" Tomoko pointed out.

"I wish I was in her place," murmured Marina, eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Keita!" Motoki snagged the male nurse who had wandered back to the group, trailed by the ubiquitous Funatsu, once Kotoko had been removed from their immediate presence. "Maybe Irie-chan will do that to you too since you're so serious!"

Funatsu's forehead furrowed and he appeared to be about to argue on his own behalf for the right to have Kotoko's attention, when Mrs. Irie's voice cut through the crowd's babble.

"Okay, you lovebirds, it's been too long since you've taken a picture together. Kotoko-chan, stop playing with his face and turn around. Onii-chan, quit scowling and smile for the camera!"

Jinko appeared behind Mrs. Irie's shoulder. "Kiss! Kiss!" she called.

Naoki raised his eyebrows in exasperation before bending to touch his lips to Kotoko's cheek.

"You can do better than that!" jeered Satomi. "You're married, after all!"

Thus egged on by her friends, Kotoko stood on tiptoe and pulled her husband's face to hers and planted a lengthy kiss on him.

After the initial stereophonic gasps from the one medical and four nursing students, Tomoko voiced the thought that they all shared, "Incest?!"

"Shades of Angelina Jolie and her brother!" Marina staggered a bit, pale. "I think I threw up in my mouth a little." She reached over and took Funatsu's glass and downed its contents.

"S-say!" Funatsu protested, also in shock.

After coughing over the sudden swallow of liquor, she gasped, "I was the one who told Old Lady Yoshida that she was his sister! She looked at me kind of funny then…"

"Were they never siblings?" asked Tomoko. "Where did we go wrong?"

"Let's see… she gave me her card— _with the name 'Irie' on it_ —the first time we met," Motoki mused.

"But Mrs. Irie said that she was the big sister of Irie the younger…"

Out of the blue, Funatsu joined the conversation. "So that's what she meant…"

"Do you know something?!" Motoki almost jumped on him and he cowered back.

"Um, she told me not to believe that stupid story and that she was totally devoted to Irie. I just thought she was telling me not to interfere with his studies…!"

"We made the wrong assumption from the get-go," Keita stated hollowly.

"Well," Marina spoke prosaically, "there are lots of fish in the sea, even if Irie-san was the choicest one." At those word, Funatsu suddenly adjusted his glasses and took a closer look at her. Ignoring him, she began to glance around the room. Her eyes focused on Dylan, now standing near the two boys, Yuuki looking disgusted and Nobuhiro wistful.

"Don't waste your time on that one," Motoki informed her as she followed her gaze. "He's not gonna swing your direction, believe me!" She answered Marina's silent question with a nod.

"Then what about you?" Marina was easily able to be generous with someone that she'd never have.

Motoki sniffed. "Too flashy for my taste!"

Marina and Keita—and Funatsu—stared at her in disbelief. "Too flashy for _you_?!"

"I can't help wanting to be the bird with the brighter plumage!" Motoki proclaimed, patting her curly hair. "Anyway, you still have options, Keita. There's the little teenager crushing on you."

"For goodness' sake!" he groaned. "Don't make me out to be unprofessional—and with a minor!"

The three turned in consternation when Tomoko suddenly started blubbering.

"I-I-Irie-san?! Married?!" Her nose twitched and her eyes overflowed with tears.

"Omigod! Omigod! What do we do?" Marina began to panic, then grabbed Tomoko and pushed her to the bar, where Kinnosuke was now trying, in fractured English, to tell Chris that he "was not and never would be" interested in her. "Hey, you! Kitchen boy!" she called.

Chris and Kinnosuke both turned in offended outrage.

"Who are you calling kitchen boy?"

"Leave my man alone!"

"I'm not your man!"

"Quit the squabbling," Marina cut through their argument. "Can you let her cut up some more meat so maybe she'll cheer up?"

" _She_ can't have my lover either!" Chris called behind him as a harassed Kinnosuke led Tomoko to the kitchen. "Because, Kin-chan-san, you are my destiny, desu!"

"Who are you calling dense, gaijin?!" he hollered back at her.

"Ma-Ma-Marina-san!" Funatsu finally managed to get out.

"Oh!" Marina placed a hand over her heart. "You startled me."

"I-I-I li-li-li—" His tongue stumbled.

"Say, I'm sorry about your drink, but I was pretty desperate. Can I get you another one?" she offered.

"Y-y-yes, Ma-Ma-Marina-san!" he said as he followed her obediently.

"That's strange," Kotoko noted as they passed by. "I never heard Fushantu-san stutter with me."

"It looks like he is in the grip of a genuine emotion and not merely mischief and spite," Naoki surmised. "By the way, what was with that outrageous public display of affection just now?"

She winked and hugged him quickly. "Maybe I just wanted to be spur… span…spron…"

"Spontaneous!" Naoki and Yuuki corrected her at the same time.

As Dylan doubled over in laughter, Yuuki wailed, "Oh no! I can understand her! I've been infected by the baka virus!" Then, "Ow!"

Even Naoki cracked a rare public grin while watching the double team of Nobuhiro and Kotoko attack his brother for using the "B-word" one too many times.

Recorded for posterity, of course, by Irie Noriko.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading to the end! I've already had ideas for a future story involving a pregnant Kotoko—because you know she's not going to sit home quietly and knit booties. Right now, however, I'm working on a different alternate timeline, set in high school, mostly senior year** **—NOT** **a prequel to Kotoko Volant. I hope you'll give it a shot when it's ready to post.**


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